Change In Destiny
by Breaker12
Summary: [Discontinued] If the past had been different, what would the future be? What if, because of a change in destiny, on a fated night, a young boy met a certain someone that would change his destiny? With new-found powers, allies and new destiny, a young boy will rise to the peak, exact his revenge and take the world by storm! Chaotic-Neutral Naruto! Teacher Ichigo! Disciple Naruto!
1. Prologue

**_Hey, guys, Breaker12 here with a Bleach/Naruto X-over. Hope you guys enjoy it~!_**

 ** _Beta-read: Kryokon_**

* * *

 **Chapter 1 - Prologue**

* * *

 _A monster..._

 _Apparently, that was what I was. Ever since young, I have always come to terms with it, but no matter how much I try, I just can't understand it. I can't figure out... what deigns me as such._

 _What have I ever done?_

 _They called me demon, killer, death itself... and yet... why did I feel as if I was no monster?_

 _In my eyes, there was always only one monster – The villagers themselves._

 _..._

...

...

Shrouded in the faint light of the moon, young boy ran through the streets of the mighty Konoha village, the proud hidden village, acclaimed to be the strongest one, of the Fire Nation. His bare feet ruthlessly clashed against the ground, drawing no small amounts of blood. His clothes were torn, and countless wounds could be seen on his body, as he tried his very best to dodge what pursued him from behind. His eyes were narrowed, while his hands were clenched into fists, completely closed, without a hollow spot.

The boy's visage, although battered and worn out, was dark, as his eyes glimmered with defiance and the thirst for power and survival. He knew that this night, his life was on the life. By the end of this night, if he wasn't dead... it could already be considered as an accomplishment; a mighty feat that many wouldn't even dare of dreaming of.

As he ran, the young boy's eyes grew colder by the second, and if they got any colder, it would be enough to freeze the entire continent. Behind him, the sounds of shouting could be heard, along with the droning sounds of footsteps, as a crowd of people cursed him with all their might, steadily chasing after him with all their could. It was completely beyond them how a eight-years old could outrun an adult ninja, but they didn't pay too much attention to that. They eyes were crazed, filled with raw madness, as they held their weapons up high, uttering cries of war.

They thirsted for blood... _his_ blood.

"Demon!" one of the man in the crowd growled, as his coal-like, maddened eyes, flashed with a red glimmer, a small tomoe appearing on it, as he revealed a crazed expression. He held no weapons, but in the entire group, he was by far the most dangerous one. Raising up his arms, his hands started to flash in countless Hand Seals, chakra coiling and churning around him.

Immediately, the young boy up-ahead snapped his head to the side, and while he ran, he kept his trained eyes focused on the man's hands, paying attention to his every movement. Suddenly, a faint glimmer shone in the boy's sky-blue eyes, as he realized the technique.

 _Snake → Ram → Monkey → Boar → Horse → Tiger?! Isn't that...?_

Before the man could even shot out the name, he already knew what would follow. His eyes grew even colder, as he realized that this ninjutsu wasn't a simple one. It was far from that; it was a threat to his life – a nasty threat.

Soon after, just as expected...

" _Katon: Endan!_ " the man roared, opening his mouth wide and from within, a dark, greasy substance – oil – was spit out, filling the air in front of him. A spark then flashed before his eyes, as it was all ignited in a fire ball, that pierced the air, flying straight towards the young boy.

Not enough time to dodge... even while watching what could possibly be the cause of his own death, not only did the eight-years old not panic, he maintained a cold an analytical look, as he assessed his situation, searching desperately for a way out of it. He accessed the information that he had about that jutsu, trying to determine the area of attack and the intensity.

By each passing second, the fireball came closer, and he was painfully aware that he only had fractions of a second left. It was do or die.

 _It's either my life, or..._ before he could even finish his train of thought, his body moved ahead of him, changing his position, so the fireball would only make contact with one part of his body – his left arm.

In a blazing inferno, the fireball heavily impacted against his arm, charring it completely in seconds, turning it into a pitch-black color, completely lifeless. It hurt. Oh, so much. The fire burned his tissues... his flesh, his bones, his blood... but he had no time to mourn for his loss. Not even a second later, a decisive look flashed in his eyes as he grabbed the knife that was by his waist, something that he had acquired through his years of scavenging for food in the village.

 _Slash!_

With a soft thud, a black object fell to the ground, as the eight-years old kept running, not even bothering to look back, completely focused on the path ahead of him. If one looked at him closely, however, they would see a slight difference to his being – He no longer had his left arm.

The wound, however, had already closed, even though not even a handful of seconds had passed since the severing. Blood no longer spurted out in waterfalls, and skin was already beginning to build up around the gaping hole, covering it completely, not leaving even a single scar to show.

As he continued running, the boy grit his teeth, forcing himself to ignore the pain. He was already used to pain – he lived with it – and his sense of pain was already duller than most people, but the loss of a limb still was a great impact. At the same time, however, he knew that he could do nothing about it, for he had no power.

He lived in a world where the strong prey on the weak, and the latter can only resign themselves to their cruel fate. There was no such thing as justice. There was no such thing as compassion. Power _reigned absolute._

This was the kind of cruel reality he lived in, and he learned that first-hand. He, however, didn't hate it. The world was what it was, and there was no way – nor reason – to change it. He only desired for one thing – Power. As long as he had power, no one – NO ONE – would dare to hurt him.

However, that wasn't reality. He was weak. Oh, so weak... so weak that he couldn't even protect himself. Aside from his arm, he had already lost another precious part of his own body... a loss that pained him greatly.

Thinking that far, his right arm unconsciously lifted up to stroke his head, and to be more exact, his right eye – or the place where it should have been. On his fifth birthday, he had had to sacrifice another thing... half of his vision.

His right eye had been infected with poison through a needle thrown at him, and it would soon transmit to his left. Not wanting to take any chances, he had been quick in taking it out. Needless to say, he had to remain bedridden for three days after that.

However, in the midst of his thinking, he had to halt his steps temporarily, as in front of him, a metallic fence appeared. It was wide and lengthy, by far surpassing his own height, and he knew that climbing it wasn't an option. Looking around, he tried to search for some breach in the construction, and it didn't take him long to find a small fissure, just wide enough for him to pass. Without an ounce of hesitation, he squirmed his way inside, before continuing running.

As for the crowd of people behind him, they were about to follow him inside, but the moment that they caught sight of a sign, they stopped dead in their tracks. Not too far away from them, there was a small sign, tainted with drops of blood that had long since dried. The sign was made out of metal, and it was clearly rusted, but the words displayed were clear:

 _Forty-Fourth Training Ground!_

 _Forest Of Death!_

 _Caution!_

 ** _Do not enter!_**

Immediately after reading such words, the crowd of a dozen or so people immediately stopped in their tracks, a look of disbelief in all of their eyes, as they gazed at that terrifying string of words, complex emotions surging through them. Initially, they were taken aback, completely astonished, but soon enough, one of the man started laughing.

This man was none other than the same one that had thrown the fire bullet at the young boy. He had been a genin in his younger days, but because of the Kyuubi attack eight years ago, he had his right arm damaged. Although he could still cast jutsus, acts like throwing shurikens and kunais were beyond him, so he was forced to retire. Even if he was an Uchiha, he was considered a disgrace to his clan, and had been driven out. He blamed it all on the Kyuubi, which then transferred to the poor boy.

"The demon brat actually walked to his death!" the man's – Ryou Uchiha – eyes were crazed, as he laughed manically, a faint glimmer of insanity in his eyes, as he recalled how that boy had been the cause of the death of his wife, daughter and the end of his career as a ninja and the expulsion from his own clan. "That's the forest of death! Whoever sets foot inside dies!"

Immediately, the crowd showed looks of enlightenment, as one after another, people began to realize how unlucky that boy had been. He literally escaped instant death only to jump into hell! Although this fact already guaranteed the boy's death, some of them were still displeased.

"Damn," a bulky man, on his late thirties to early forties, sighed as he shook his head slightly, his hand still gripping on the mace in his hands, ready to strike at any given moment. His eyes were shimmering with unwillingness, and similar to the Uchiha, it glimmered with insanity. "I think that the brat got lucky; I wanted to torture him! Again, and again and again!"

On the day of the Kyuubi's attack, eight years ago, like everyone in the crowd, he had lost someone precious to him. While in Ryou's case it had been his wife and child, in his – Takahiro Youta's – case, it had been his parents. They were already sick from old age, and the attack had sealed their fates. Right in front of him, both of his parents were squashed to death by one of the Kyuubi's tails.

Youta wasn't the only one like that. Throughout the crowd, many people expressed their anger, but they could do nothing about it, as none of them had the qualifications to even come close to a place like the forest of death. No matter how much they loathed and hated the young boy, they would never dare to set foot within the notorious training ground.

After a while, they all turned around, deciding to either go back to their own houses, or partake in the celebration of the Kyuubi festival. After all, the Yondaime Hokage, along with his wife and daughter would be personally attending it; how could they not join in on the fun?

...

...

...

Meanwhile, within the forest...

The moon hung high in the sky, illuminating the vast wilderness with its faint sheen. Running through the plethora of plants that painted a picturesque scenario, was a young boy, with the faint moonlight guiding his path.

He didn't know where he was going.

He didn't know where he was.

Hell, he didn't know _who_ he was.

Ever since young, he had been shunned by his village for being some kind of demon. Supposedly, he had a family, but he wasn't really sure of their names. From a young age, right after his birth, he had been left alone at an orphanage, with his name as his only belonging.

Because of that, since he was younger, he had to learn how to live for himself. As means of survival, his eyesight adapted, along with his memory, allowing him to easily see through hand-signs and know some jutsus before they were cast. Although it was no-where near the fabled Sharingan, it was still something that the young boy took pride him. At the very least, it had saved his life a few times so far.

Running aimlessly, he didn't mind how much the pain dug its way through his brain, or the amounts of spines he had already stepped on top of with his bare foot. He only cared for one thing – survival.

Thankfully, it seemed that most animals were asleep, as he didn't find even a single one on his path. He thought that it was strange, but didn't think too much into it. After all, if it was for his benefit, why question it?

After a while, he slowly reached an area devoid of any trees – a clearing. It was the first one that he had seen so far, and after checking his surroundings for any sleeping beasts or animals, the young boy walked inside, intending to rest a little there. Much to his surprise, however, as soon as he entered it, his eyes widened, as he realized that this clearing was definitely no _simple_ clearing.

Firstly, it was devoid of any vegetation. Even the grass was withered and dried, of a blackened color. Even the trees surrounding it were also dead. This scenario was nothing short of terrifying; it was as if a God of Death had taken that place as his residence. However, what had caught the young boy's attention the most were the two swords, embedded on the ground, right in the middle of the clearing.

One of them was big, in the shape of Khyber knife, with the grip at the base of the blade and a handle extending back from it. There was a thin, hollowed-out portion running along the back edge of the blade from the base to the middle of the blade.

As for the seconds sword, it was relatively small, much smaller than the first one, and was similar to the first blade, but resembled more of a trench knife than a sword. Differently from the first, it hand an enclosed handle, with a portion acting like a hand guard.

Those swords were close to in another, in an 'X' shape. Around it, the aura of death was even denser, as the grass had a faint, dark glint to it. Looking at it, the young boy felt shivers run down his spine. He had a foreboding feeling when he looked at those swords. Whatever they were, they were...bad.

At the same time, however, the young boy felt a tugging sensation in his gut. There was something calling for him... he was _attracted_ to those two swords. He didn't know why or how, he just knew it.

By this point, interest grew in his heart, as he started wondering what those kinds of swords were doing in a place like this. Walking closer, he tentatively tried to grass the hilt of the smaller one, only to see that no matter how much he pulled, it wouldn't budge.

"Ah?" the young boy's eyes widened, as he tried to use his remaining arm – the right one – using all his strength to pull it up, but it was to no avail. At that moment, he no longer knew why he was even trying; he simply tried, following his most primal instincts.

"It's stuck?" looking at it strangely, the young boy directed his sight towards the ground, gazing at the blackened land beneath him. Nodding slightly, he crouched down, and started to dig with his only arm, trying to find what was underneath. Much to his surprise, however, not even a few minutes after he had begun, his hand suddenly clashed against what seemed to be metal. "Rocks?"

Thinking that the situation was strange, the young boy peered into the hole he had dug, and found a metallic surface. "Metal... what is metal doing here?"

With his interest rekindled, he started to dig around the borders, and before long, right beneath him, a metallic coffin was revealed, and it seemed as if the swords were stuck on its surface, which explained why he had found it so hard to pull them out.

"What is a coffin doing out here?" wondered the young boy out loud, as he grabbed what he assumed to be the lid of the coffin, and swung it, completely opening it with one single swing, surprised at how light the lid was. Immediately after the lid was out of the way, the young boy came face to face with another person.

Differently from what one would expect from what would be inside a coffin, like a corpse or mortal remains, what was in front of him was a young man, at least seventeen years old. The first thing that the young boy noticed was that he was unlike everyone else he had ever seen. He looked like a foreigner, with manly features and a mop of light-orange hair above his head.

The young man's eyes were closed, and he was wearing black robes that reached his ankles – clearly unlike shinobi clothes – and had two white shoulder plates crossing his chest in an 'X' shape, with the plate on his left shoulder having three sections adorned with red scales. A white cloak with black markings was tied around his waist, and the state of his attire was impeccable, without a single dirt spot.

"A foreigner?" the young boy tilted his head to the site curiously, before extending his index finger towards the young man's face, slightly poking. Seeing no reaction, his eyes showed confusion. "Dead?"

Well, it wouldn't be surprising if he was dead, but seeing that his flesh had no decay, he had initially held thoughts that maybe he was alive, but after poking his face thrice and receiving no reactions, the young boy shook his head, clearly assured.

"Truly dead," he nodded slightly, before taking a step back, and getting out of the perimeter of the coffin. His gaze slightly landed on the place where his left arm should have been, before he focused on the two swords, which were still stuck on the lid of the coffin. Taking a step forward, he tried to grab them again, but before he could, he felt wind building up behind him, and before he knew it, there was a hand in his shoulder.

"Kid? What do you think you're doing?"

Slowly turning his head around, the young boy found himself face to face with the young man he had found in the coffin. His eyes were opened, revealing deep brown pupils and were looking at him intently.

"Kid?" he asked again, wondering why the eight-years old was so silent.

"Ah!" realizing that the young man was talking to him, the young boy immediately realized the situation. He was probably mad that he was trying to grab those swords! Instantly, he bowed slightly, "I'm sorry! I didn't know those were your swords!"

 _I thought you were dead, by the way,_ the blonde boy thought with dark humor, but didn't voice his thoughts. For some reason, he felt that the man in front of him was powerful; unbelievably so. As such, he made sure to be as respectful as possible.

However, much to his surprise, when he looked up and saw the young man's face, he discovered, much to his astonishment, that he wasn't angry, but instead, confused, as he looked around in curiosity and bafflement. After a while, the young man glanced back at him, a profound look in his eyes. "Kid, tell me, where the hell is this?"

"This?" the young boy looked around, eyeing the forest for a while, before turning back to look at the young man. "The Forest of Death, I believe."

Before, he had indeed read the sign, but believed that it would be better to gamble his life within the forest than to let his fate in the hands of the villagers. So far, at least, everything was going pretty well.

"Forest of Death?" the young man repeated after him, as if tasting those words. Immediately after, he looked back at the kid dubiously, a profound look in his eyes. "By chance, do you know who Yhwach is?"

"Yh...what?" the young boy looked at him curiously, clearly not understanding his words. Hell, he couldn't even pronounce that strange sounding name.

"Ehm..." sighing, the young man thought of how he should explain it. "Have you seen someone tall, broad chin and high-cheekbones? Long, black hair, evil eyes and a huge-ass mustache?"

Hearing the description, the young boy looked at the older male strangely.

"No?" the young boy answered back, taken aback by the description. He had never even heard of a shinobi like that, and that was considering that he knew almost everyone in the village. Could it be that this person along with the one he was looking for weren't from Konoha?

Seeing how clueless the boy was, the young man sighed slightly, a deep and confused look in his eyes.

"Alright, so I'm in a place I don't know, with a clueless boy and Yhwach disappeared..." the young man murmured to himself before sighing deeply. Looking at the boy again, he asked. "What's your name?"

"N-Naruto," the young boy – Naruto – stuttered slightly while saying his own name, half-expecting the orange-haired man in front of him to reveal an expression of hate upon discovering who he was. Much to his surprise, however, he simply nodded.

"Naruto, right?" he extended his left arm towards him in a friendly gesture, "I'm Ichigo."

 _Ichigo?_ Once more, the young boy was surprised. That name was certainly uncommon, and it looked really out of place with the other names in his village. By this point, he was already sure that the orange-haired man was a foreigner.

Nevertheless, Naruto extended his remaining arm, shaking his hand slightly. It was also at that moment that the young man – Ichigo – glanced at the place where his other arm should have been, revealed a surprised look, before looking back at him curiously, but not saying anything. Simultaneously, he noticed that Naruto's right eye was closed.

Shaking his head slightly, Ichigo figured that Naruto, the young boy, must have been through many things in his life, so he didn't pry too deep into it. Everyone had their own secrets; he knew that better than anyone else.

Smiling lightly, he looked at Naruto questioningly, "Tell me, Naruto, are we in the Human world?"

Since he was in his Shinigami mode, and this kid could clearly see him, that either this meant that they were in the human world and the kid had high spiritual power, or in another place, like the Soul Society or the Rukongai.

"I guess so?" once more, Naruto revealed a puzzled look. That question could only be described as strange; if they weren't in the human world, where else would they be?

Nodding slightly, Ichigo understood that most likely – as he suspected – Naruto was truly a human with high amounts of spiritual powers, capable of seeing him. Still, that didn't explain the situation. In one minute, he was having his last fight with Yhwach, and in the other, he woke up in this strange place – supposedly called The Forest of Death, without understanding anything.

"Naruto," Ichigo began slowly, making the young blonde pay attention to him, "in which country are we?"

Since they were in the human world, then this most likely meant that they were in Japan, since the kid could speak the same language as him, but it wouldn't hurt to ask. Much to his surprise, however, the kid's answer was beyond his expectations.

"We are in the Land of Fire, if that's what you want to know," Naruto quickly answered, thinking back to the information that he had read when he was back in the library. Seeing the puzzled look in Ichigo's face, Naruto further explained. "As for the village, we are in Konoha, the Hidden Leaf Village."

 _Land of Fire? Konoha? Hidden Leaf Village?_ Ichigo's eyes widened, as he suddenly discovered that his situation wasn't as simple as it seemed. _What kind of messed up scenario is this? Just where in the world did I end up in?_

Looking at him deeply, Naruto noticed that even after he mentioned 'Konoha', the confusion in Ichigo's face didn't lessen, which lead to his surprise. Most of the people in the world knew of Konoha since it was one of the most famous villages in existence. Looking at the orange-haired man in front of with warily, Naruto couldn't help but to say, "You do know what Konoha is, right?

Naruto may hate his village with all his heart, but he simply couldn't believe that someone hadn't heard about it. To him, that concept was simply inconceivable.

Listening to the young boy's words, Ichigo shook his head slightly.

 _Alright, Ichigo, calm down. First things first, you must find out more about where you are,_ Ichigo mentally told himself, trying to keep his mind steady and calm, which wasn't proving to be an easy feat. After all, being suddenly teleported to a place you had never heard about in the middle of a life and death battle could be quite a blow to the mind.

Taking in a deep breath, Ichigo slowly began to speak, while looking at Naruto sheepishly, "I'm sorry, but I'm suffering of amnesia. Would you mind explaining to me about this 'village' and the Land of Fire?

"Amnesia?" Naruto gazed at him with wariness, before nodding, since he had nothing else to do. Not only that, since the young man was being polite with him, he had no reason to refuse. "Alright, I guess I can tell you what I know."

Naruto saw no disadvantage in helping out Ichigo. Not only that, as far as he was concerned, this was the longest conversation that he had ever held in his life, and he wasn't willing to let it go. After all, who knew when the chance to talk this much would arise again?

"So, the Land of Fire..." Naruto began after a deep breath, recalling everything that he had read in the library in his entire life.

For the next two hours, Ichigo heard all about the countries, shinobis and the hidden villages. Needless to say, by the end of it all, he realized how fucked up he was. It didn't take him too long to come the conclusion that he definitely wasn't on _his_ world. Apparently, he somehow ended up in a world of... Ninjas.

"... And that's about it," Naruto concluded, having finished his explanation. When he looked at Ichigo's face once more, he noticed the look of utter disbelief and even a little of despair present in his features. "...Hey, are you alright...?"

"Ah?" being suddenly talked to, Ichigo lifted up his head and was about to answer, but suddenly stopped, as he felt a tugging sensation on his clothes. Not even a second later, from his robes, a small, bluish-purple orb fell out, encircled in a crystal-looking case. Immediately after seeing what it was, Ichigo's eyes widened.

"The Hōgyoku?!"

Ichigo couldn't believe what was happening. Hovering in mid-air, right in front of him, was one of the most powerful – if not the most – objects in existence, the almighty, desire manifesting orb – the Hōgyoku. Ichigo clearly remembered how Aizen Sosuke had used its power to transcend into a higher being, and, truthfully, he didn't have a good impression of the little object that could bend reality at will.

However, what surprised him the most was: Why did he have the Hōgyoku with him?! He clearly remembered how it had disappeared after his battle with Aizen, and yet... it simply popped out his clothes.

"Ichigo-san?" Naruto called out, as he eyed the strange object, that kept hovering in front of him. "What's this?" he asked, pointing at the Hōgyoku.

"That's-"

Before Ichigo could even begin, the heaven-defying orb suddenly started to emit a low humming sound, before it started flying forward, directly towards Naruto. Seeing that, Ichigo's eyes widened, as he tried to catch it, but that only caused the situation to grow even worse, as he touched the Hōgyoku in the exact moment that it collided against the small blonde.

Following that, a blinding white light filled the entire clearing, and before Ichigo knew it, he found his body disintegrating. At the same time, Naruto slipped into unconsciousness.

 _Oh, fuck,_ Ichigo's eyes widened as he realized that he had fucked up. Big time.

...

...

...

When Naruto opened his eyes again, the first thing that he realized was that he was on the ground. Not only that, he was in a rather _intimate_ way, with his mouth kissing the dirt. Immediately, he lifted up his body, and spit out a bit of the soil that had entered his mouth. Raising his head, he looked around, searching for Ichigo, but found nothing.

Not only that, the two swords had also disappeared. The only thing that remained, which served as proof that he hadn't dreamed all that had happened, was the opened coffin, with its lid not too far away from it.

"Ichigo?" called out Naruto, trying to see if his newfound acquaintance was close, but he heard no answer. Shaking his head, he tried lifting his body up, using both of his arms to prop himself up. Wait... both of his arms?!

Like a bowstring, Naruto's head snapped to the place where he thought his left arm used to be, and much to his surprise, he _actually_ found it there. Flesh, veins, blood and meridians... it was all there. With widened eyes, Naruto brought it closer, inspecting it, but he found no blemish whatsoever. It was as good as new.

It was also at that moment that he noticed the scars on his body, or, to be more precise, his lack of scars. Naruto clearly remembered that he held no small amount of scars in his body, amounting to dozens of them, but at that moment, he couldn't find any of them _._ **Not. Even. One.**

Once more taking his attention away from his body, not wanting to think too much into what was happening, Naruto tried to search around again, but found nothing, just like before.

"Did he go away?" Naruto's eyes revealed a saddened sheen, as he realized that his newfound acquaintance had already departed. Sighing, the blonde raised his head to the sky, a sad smile on his face, "At the very least," he begun, "he didn't try to hurt me..."

Shaking his head, he turned his gaze towards his left arm, and checked it once more, before sitting on the ground. He needed time to think. So many things had happened in a short span of time, and it had left him quite overwhelmed. He needed to sort out his thoughts, and decide what to do for now.

...

...

...

"What the hell?!"

Brown eyes snapped open, and before the orange haired boy even begun to look around, he slapped his palm against the ground, jumping upwards, already entering a battle stance. He had been through many things, and his actions just now were acted solely on instinct. He was a battle-hardened warrior; there was no denying it.

At that moment, however, he felt a cold feeling surrounding his feet and ankles, which surprised him slightly, making him look down, only to notice that his feet were submerged in water. It was also at that moment that the orange-haired Shinigami finally decided to look around, which lead him to realize that he was in...in...a sewer.

"You must be kidding me," face-palmed Ichigo, as he couldn't bring himself to understand what was happening. His look was one of confusion and anger, as he realized that somehow, the Hōgyoku had managed to do an impossible feat – mess his situation up even further.

 _Alright, man, calm down. I touched the Hōgyoku, some weird light flashed, and I ended up in a sewer. There must be some sense behind this..._ thought Ichigo, but even after a while, he was unable to come to a logic conclusion, other than the fact that that day definitely wasn't his lucky day.

First, he had been battling with Yhwach, just one shy step away from beating the hell out of him, and suddenly, in the middle of the battle, he blacks out and finds himself in a ninja country. If this wasn't bad luck, then what was?!

"Ichigo, calm down."

Suddenly, from behind him, he heard a deep and baritone voice, which made his eyes widen greatly. He only knew two people with that voice, but one of them had an even deeper one, which was filled with contempt. This, however, was calm and level-headed... this was _his_ voice. The voice of the manifestation of his Quincy powers; the voice of...

"Old-man Zangetsu?!"

Ichigo turned around in shock, and just as he thought, behind him was a tall middle-man – much taller than him – with a lean-built and a stoic expression. His skin was of a pale color, with high cheekbones, a stubble adorning his face, and long ragged black hair with brownish highlights. He wore a tattered white dress shirt with an upturned collar and cuffs, black pants, low-heeled boot, along with a menacing amorphous black overcoat with a burgundy highlight that flared out in ragged ends. On his face was a brown-tinted, semi-transparent wraparound sunglasses.

This man... was none other than the manifestation of Ichigo's Quincy powers, the other half of his Zanpakutō spirit and also the same spirit that had faded away a long time ago, leaving him behind, so his Shinigami powers could grow.

 _He_ was clearly in front of Ichigo, and yet the orange-haired boy couldn't believe it. He had seen with his own two eyes as he faded away... he had perished, giving place for his Shinigami powers... how could simply reappear?!

Seeing the look in Ichigo's visage, the manifestation of Ichigo's Quincy powers revealed one of his rare smiles, although it was a sad one. His eyes were looking deeply at Ichigo from behind his glasses, and it could be seen that he also didn't understand the situation, but still maintained a level-headed and calm mind.

"I know what you are thinking, Ichigo," Old-man Zangetsu took a step closer, and placed his hand on the astonished boy's shoulder, who still hadn't moved from his spot, completely immobile. "However, now is not the time for this. We must figure out where we are."

Ichigo remained motionless, before he slowly lifted up his head, gazing deep within Old-man Zangetsu's eyes. "Is this real?" suddenly, he felt a knot forming in his throat. "A-are you truly alive?"

Before, when he had faded away, Ichigo had suppressed his grieving, but the blow had still been hard on the seventeen-years old. Old-man Zangetsu had been with him for a long time, and had helped him through thin and thick. Even if he had been suppressing his Shinigami powers all along... he was still one of his closest friends.

"I'm afraid it is," The stout, middle-aged spirit nodded slowly, a deep look in his eyes. "I am unaware of what made me come back, but now, we should-"

"Oi! Zangetsu! King!"

Suddenly, from behind them, a shrill and twisted voice shouted out, making Ichigo's eyes widen, while Zangetsu's narrowed slightly. Approaching them with a wicked smile on his face was a teenager, who looked like a carbon-copy of Ichigo, except that the colors were all mixed up.

He was fairly tall and lean-built, while his skin, unlike Ichigo's, was of a pure white color, even paler than pale, with his eyes consisting of black pupils, yellowish irises and a black sclera. His face carried a psychotic grin, and he was looking at them with clear and morbid interest.

"Zangetsu," Old-man Zangetsu acknowledged him with a curt nod, before no longer paying any attention to him. As for Ichigo, he simply looked at his look-a-like slightly, before shaking his head.

"So you're also here?"

"Why wouldn't I be, Kingy?!" Zangetsu smiled widely, although it was a sadistic one, as he looked around the area. "Still, what a place to be in, huh? Fucking stinks!"

"We are in a sewer," Ichigo rolled his eyes, as he reminded his Zanpakutō spirit of that simple – yet crucial – fact, that he apparently had forgotten. "Anyhow," Ichigo looked around once more, before looking back at Old-man Zangetsu. "Any idea on where we are?"

"I'm sorry, but I also don't have any-"

"Oi oi! Why don't you ask me, your _true_ Zanpakutō spirit?!" Zangetsu took a step forward as he snarled. "What's the deal, eh, Kingy?"

"As if _you_ would know..." said Ichigo, a knowing look in his face. If not even Old-man Zangetsu, who possessed seemingly limitless knowledge didn't understand the situation, then why would his retard of a Zanpakutō spirit know? It simply made no sense!

"Oh?" Zangetsu revealed a wicked grin, as he laughed maniacally. "What's this?! Kingy is beginning to man-up?! What, did you grow a pair of balls? Hahahaha!"

After a while, he lifted his head, and gazed at Ichigo much like a predator would look at his prey. "Don't underestimate me, King. I, differently from the Old fart, know the situation."

Saying that, he crossed his arms, as he narrowed his eyes. "You remembered that little brat? Fishcake or something like that?" seeing Ichigo's nod of confirmation, Zangetsu continued. "Well, turns out that we are within his mind."

"What?!" Ichigo's eyes widened as he looked around, this time with much more carefulness. This sewer was... the inside of Naruto's mind? Looking back at Zangetsu, he shot him a strange look. "So this is Naruto's mind-scape? I thought it would be like mine, with skyscrapers and buildings..."

At this time, Old-man Zangetsu suddenly spoke, gaining Ichigo's attention. "Each and every person has their own mindscape. It's solely based on their state of mind and personality..."

"That's right, Old fart," Zangetsu nodded as he waved his arms around before glancing at Ichigo. "Your mindscape was that weird-ass city, and I truly thought that you were superior in terms of strangeness to everyone else, but it seems like you have found a contestant," he then gazed around once more before revealing a disgusted look. "Seriously, to have a sewer as his own mind-scape... just what kind of life did the little brat live?!"

In Ichigo's mind, he was also thinking the same things. If this was truly Naruto's mindscape, and the mindscape was the representation of a person's personality, then there was something definitely wrong with the young boy to have such a thing like a sewer as his mindscape. At the same time, however, he couldn't help but to wonder how Zangetsu had figured it out.

"Hey, Zangetsu... how did you discover that this is the kid's mindscape?"

Listening to Ichigo's words, Zangetsu revealed a bestial smile before using his thumb to point to a space behind him. "Ah, nothing, I just asked the fellow over there..."

 _The fellow over there?_ Ichigo's eyes widened, as he faced the direction Zangetsu was pointing at. At that moment, he noticed that behind the pale Zanpakutō spirit was a huge cage, that reached up to the ceiling. Right in the middle of it was a paper talisman, with an intricate design. Widening his eyes, Ichigo couldn't help but to think, _How didn't I see this before?!_

This, however, was the least of his surprises, as from deep within the cave, a rough and cruel voice rang out.

"Shut the hell up!"

The water beneath him rippled, and he could literally see the trembles in the air, as his hair was pushed back, just from the sheer intensity of the voice. Before Ichigo could even react, a huge eye – at least ten times his size – appeared on the other side of the gate.

It was bloodshot and slitted, and more than that, it was filled with hate. Just from gazing at it, Ichigo felt chills run down his spine. Whoever that eye belonged to... wasn't to be trifled with.

"You bunch of humans pop up in here and start making a ruckus," the eye narrowed at them, and Ichigo could hear a growl coming from the other side. "I don't care who you are, why you are here or anything else. If you don't let me sleep, you're dead!"

The ground shook, the water rippled, and the walls vibrated, as Ichigo had to force himself to keep his body attached to the ground, in fears of being thrown away like a rag-doll. That voice contained an immeasurably deep power... much more than he could ever imagine.

It was also at that point that Old-man Zangetsu took a step forward, and started walking towards the cage, before standing right in front of it, gazing at the huge, blood-shot eye.

"What do you want, tiny human?" the voice asked with a snarl, clearly displeased.

"Answers," Old-man Zangetsu gazed at the eye calmly, without a change in expression. "Firstly, who are you?"

"Oh?" a voice full of mocked amusement came from behind the gates, as the eye narrowed even further. "Who do you think you are, to ask me things?"

"I just-"

"Oi, Old fart, leave this to me," suddenly, Zangetsu took a step forward, and interrupted Old-man Zangetsu, as he gazed at the humongous blood-shot eye. "Hey, big-guy, remember me?"

"Why wouldn't I?" someone huffed from behind the gate, as the iris did a 360 within the eyes. "You are the loud bastard who keeps interrupting my sleep."

"The one and only," Zangetsu grinned wildly, before he revealed a calculating look. "How about this? You answer our questions, and then we shut up, letting you sleep. How does that sound? Win-win situation, isn't it?"

"..."

No voice came from the other side for a long time, as the huge eye momentarily closed. When it opened again, it seemed calmer.

"Make it quick."

"Righty," Zangetsu nodded, before he turned around to face Old-man Zangetsu. Then, with mocked reverence, he motioned towards the eye. "Your turn."

"Thank you," Old-man Zangetsu nodded towards Zangetsu, before setting his gaze on the huge eye. "As I asked before, who are you?"

Looking lazily at him, the eye only narrowed slightly. "Just consider me an inhabitant of the brat's mind."

"An inhabitant?" glancing at the large seal talisman that locked the gate, Old-man Zangetsu nodded slightly. "Then... have you seen the Hōgyoku?"

"Hōgyoku?" the voice once more came from behind, slightly surprised, before it seemed to have realized something. "Oh, you mean this little shit who keeps bothering me?"

While saying so, a gigantic tail suddenly appeared, with the tip twirled around something. Bringing the tail close to the gate, the gigantic being behind the gate unfurled it, letting a small object fall down. Seeing it, Ichigo, who was off by the side, widened his eyes.

"That's it!"

He then ran forward, and was about to grasp it, but Old-man Zangetsu was faster, as he took it in his grasp. Immediately after, he closed his eyes. When they opened again, they seemed different from before. At the same time, he waved his hands, and the Hōgyoku flew up high in the air before disappearing from sight.

"The Hōgyoku has told me the situation," suddenly, Old-man Zangetsu spoke, making all eyes look at him with surprise. "Apparently, that Naruto child desired for power, and the Hōgyoku realized his desire."

Saying that, he assumed a complex expression. "Using its powers, it made the child absorb your soul and spirit, along with your Shinigami, Quincy and Hollow powers, and your true body."

"What?!"

Ichigo's eyes widened, not daring to believe what he had heard. "Then, you mean that now, you and Zangetsu are..."

"No," Shaking his head, Old-man Zangetsu explained, "we are still your power. What the Hōgyoku did was different... it grasped the essence of your three converging powers, got their true nature, and infused it into the boy."

"Hoh?" Zangetsu grinned slightly, as he realized what his older counterpart was talking about. "Old fart, are you saying that he will have his own Zanpakutō? One different from us?"

"Exactly," nodding his head, Old-man Zangetsu confirmed Zangetsu's guesses, "the child is now a Shinigami, a Quincy and a Hollow, but he will have his own spirits. In other words... he will have his own sword, and just like yours, Ichigo, it will have two spirits. One for his Quincy powers, and another for his Hollow and Shinigami powers."

"What?!" Once more, Ichigo revealed a surprised expression. This.. this was simply unbelievable. He had no idea that the Hōgyoku was able to do such things. Sure, it had managed to grant Chad and Inoue their own powers, and also mess with the time-flow and reality, bending it so he could be made a Shinigami, but this... was simply unbelievable.

After a while, Ichigo broke through from his shock, although his eyes still contained a glimmer of surprise. He then look around slightly, before a puzzled look appeared on his face. "Then... where are they?"

Noticing what Ichigo was talking about, Old-man Zangetsu explained. "They have not awakened yet. First, the child needs to become a true Shinigami, and not only have the potential to become one."

"You mean..." Ichigo's eyes widened. "That he will have to go through..."

"What Kingy went through with that creepy Urahara fellow?" Zangetsu completed the sentence. "Have his Chain of Fate severed, so he can awaken his true Shinigami powers?"

"Exactly," Old-man Zangetsu nodded. "At least, that's what the Hōgyoku told me to do."

"Wait, wait," suddenly, Ichigo stepped in on their conversation, a confused look in his face. "Why should we help the kid in the first place? I barely know him... shouldn't I be more worried about how I should get back?"

However, much to his disbelief, Old-man Zangetsu shook his head.

"The Hōgyoku has ordered us to be the kid's teacher... our only purpose is to make him stronger... No, to make him the strongest," he then locked his gaze on Ichigo's eyes. "From what it told me, as long as we make the child the strongest, then he would send us back to our world."

"What?! So I'm supposed to become the kid's mentor or something?" Ichigo's appearance was one of bafflement, as if he could not comprehend the situation. "And, if he becomes the strongest, it will lead us back?!" saying that far, he suddenly stopped, as he seemed to have realized something. "Wait... it told us that it could bring us back... could this mean that the Hōgyoku was the one who interrupted my battle with Yhwach and brought me to this weird world?!"

"I'm afraid so," Old-man Zangetsu nodded slightly. "For some reasons I can't fathom, it listened to the boy's prayers for powers, even if they were dimensions apart, and has brought us to this world in order to fulfill the child's desires. As long as we do so, then we will be brought back."

"Wow, did you hear that, Kingy?!" Zangetsu grinned wildly, excitement on his face. "We will have someone to torment now!"

Completely turning a deaf ear towards Zangetsu's sentence, Ichigo adopted a look of deep thought, musing over his possibilities. After a while, he opened his eyes and sighed.

"I guess I could help out the boy... he doesn't seem like a bad person..." suddenly, the presence on the other side of the gate snorted, but Ichigo didn't pay too much attention to it. "Alright, so I can teach him how to use his Shinigami powers... but what about his Quincy and Hollow powers? I only know Blut Vene and the Gran Rey Cero, after all."

"I'll teach the brat how to be a Hollow," replied Zangetsu as he shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

"You?" Ichigo gave him a look of mock surprise. "Like _you_ know anything..."

Hearing Ichigo's words, Zangetsu merely huffed, before he disappeared from his place, making Ichigo's eyes widen, as he realized that familiar ability. "S-sonido?!"

"Surprise, surprise," Zangetsu appeared behind Ichigo, with his arms crossed, a feral grin on his face. "I know _everything_ about being a hollow."

"Wait..." Ichigo's eyes widened as he turned around, yet again realizing something. "If you knew all this from the start, why didn't you teach them to me?! I can only use the Gran Rey Cero.. if I could use the rest, my life would be much easier!"

"You never asked me for them," Zangetsu merely shrugged his shoulders. "And it's not like I would have taught you even if you wanted to... To the kid, however, I'll gladly do so. His personality isn't that bad... or should I say... it is that bad."

He then let his eyes wonder around the place faintly before gazing back at Ichigo. "After all, look at his mindscape. Now this is what I call a fucked-up mind! Also, for him to desire for power so much that the little ball heard him from another dimension.. that's the kind of person I would like to teach!"

Hearing Zangetsu's words, Ichigo could only give him a flabbergasted look before shaking his head, turning around to face Old-man Zangetsu. "What about his Quincy powers? Don't tell me that you also know the basics?"

"Actually," Old-man Zangetsu, for the first time, gave Ichigo a faint smile, which caused the orange-haired young man to reveal an expression of shock, "it appears that I do."

"What?!" this time, Ichigo was astonished. It was one thing for Zangetsu not to teach him how to use his hollow powers, but for Old-man Zangetsu to omit such information from him... he just couldn't believe it. Seeing the look of betrayal in Ichigo's face, Old-man Zangetsu sighed.

"It's not like that, Ichigo," he begun. "You can see that I have appeared, even after I clearly faded away, right? That's because the Hōgyoku restored my existence, just so I could teach the boy the Quincy techniques. For that, it also gave me information about everything Quincy-related... in fact, it gave me the memories of my..." reaching that part, Old-man Zangetsu revealed a dark expression, " _other_ self."

 _Other self?! Does he mean... Yhwach?!_ Ichigo's eyes widened, but he didn't voice his thoughts. After a while, he sighed, having come to terms with the situation. He was stuck in a world he knew nothing of, and the only way back would be to make a kid strong... what could possibly go wrong?

Shaking his head slightly, he was about to say something, but stopped, as he recalled a memory from long ago. Seemingly having realized something, he once more gazed at Old-man Zangetsu. "Wait... there's still one problem left. When Urahara severed my Chain of Fate, Tessai had bound me with Kido... what shall we do about that?"

Old-man Zangetsu suddenly revealed a troubled expression, as he heard Ichigo's words. Truly, there was no way to bind the child... how should they go about it?

However, it was at that moment that from behind the gates, a deep voice resounded.

"Leave that to me."

"Huh?!" Ichigo's head – akin to a bowstring – snapped towards the gate, peering deep into the boundless darkness with surprise. "You?"

From behind the gates, someone sighed, before saying, "I don't understand anything about Shinigamis, Quincies and Hollows, but... if it will make my host strong, then I'm willing to help you out. I only need to bind him, right?"

"Yes..." Ichigo begun carefully, but inside, he was confused. Clearly, whatever was behind the gates didn't seem like a good person that would help out others... then why would he be willing to help the boy?

As if seeing Ichigo's suspicions, the huge eye closed slightly, as the voice filled with the entire room. "I may hate being sealed like this... but that kid has suffered, much more than me. Although I hate to admit it, he deserves power."

Suddenly, the voice grew cold, sending shivers down Ichigo's spine. "However, if you ever dare to tell the kit that, then believe me when I say this, you're not going to like the result."

Reaching that part, the eye closed once more, as the voice seemed like it had gotten far-away. "Just tell me when the time comes."

Upon saying such words, the presence behind the gates spoke no longer, as it seemed to have went to another place, or have simply slumbered.

"I like him already," Zangetsu smiled wickedly after noticing that the presence could no longer hear them.

"Oh, shut your trap," Ichigo rolled his eyes, before sitting down on the ground, a deep and thoughtful look on his face. "Now, I must find some way to communicate with the kid... I gotta tell him the situation."

"Should I bring his consciousness here? Like I did with you many times before in your mindscape?" Old-man Zangetsu suggested, which earned Ichigo's nod.

"That would be for the best," Ichigo then shook his head slightly, as he rubbed his temples. "Great, now I have to explain all of this to the kid...," sighing, he shrugged his shoulders. "This could take a while..."

 **Read & Review~!**

 **A/N: Ichigo is NOT a Zanpakutō spirit! His soul was only temporarily absorbed by Naruto through the Hogyouku in order to grant the latter the former's powers. Ichigo will still be able to leave Naruto's body just fine in the future, by means of a Kage Bushin. After all, Naruto didn't fully absorb him... his situation is akin to that of the Kyuubi... sealed.**


	2. Shinigami

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or Naruto.**

 **Beta-read: KryoKon**

* * *

 ** _Chapter 2 - Shinigami_**

* * *

 _It hurted._

 _It hurted more than anything Naruto had ever felt. It was eating him from the inside… he could feel his soul, piece by piece, being consumed, shattered and corrupted. It wasn't death.. no, he was sure that if this continued, then what he would become would be… a_ **MONSTER.**

...

...

...

"Alright, let me see if I got this right…," murmured a young boy, around his eight years of age, as he looked at the three men in front of him. One of them was tall, with long, flowing, brown hair and an overcoat for clothes, while the second seemed to be an extreme albino, and the third, who looked like the most normal one, was Ichigo, the person that he had met beforehand.

"You are… Old-man Zangetsu," said Naruto as he pointed at the tall man with an overcoat, who nodded slightly in return. Turning his attention to the albino one, Naruto once more thought a little before saying, "And you're Zangetsu."

"That's right, kiddo," nodded Zangetsu, a wicked grin on his face, as he continued sarcastically, "ain't this good? This means that ya can at least remember names!"

Ignoring Zangetsu's comment, the young blonde boy turned towards Ichigo, the only person there that he actually knew, "Finally, you are Ichigo-san… who happens to be a Shinigami from another world?"

"That pretty much sums it up," nodded Ichigo approvingly before pointing towards Old-man Zangetsu, "Well, that one is… the manifestation of my Quincy powers, while the Albino fellow is-"

"Quincy?" interrupted Naruto, a curious look on his face, "What's that? Another type of power, or…?"

"Another type of power," nodded Ichigo, "a rather powerful one at that… you'll see it soon." Ichigo then turned around to face Zangetsu, "And, as I was saying before, Zangetsu is the manifestation of my Shinigami and Hollow powers."

"Hollow?" asked Naruto, as he looked at Ichigo puzzledly, while he repeated the information that he had learned a few minutes ago, "Aren't Hollows what the so-called Shinigami fight? How come you are…. Part-hollow?"

"It's a long story," sighed Ichigo, as he thought back to the time when he learned about the origins behind his birth, "but, it goes like this… Years ago, my mother, Masaki Kurosaki, was attacked by a Hollow, named White, who upon his death, tried to hollowfy my mother, by sticking to her like a parasite. Something happened, and it failed, but instead of dispersing, it attached itself to me, the baby who hadn't been born yet, and fused with my Shinigami powers, which originated…."

"The almighty, motherf*king king of all destruction, Zangetsu!" boasted the white-haired Zanpakutō spirit proudly, a look of superiority on his face as he continued the explanation, "So, yeah, as Kingy said, I'm kinda like the result of the fusion between King's Shinigami and hollow powers… Nice to meet ya!"

"Umm… Hi?" answered Naruto back awkwardly, before once more looking towards Ichigo, "Alright, that explains the Hollow part, but what about.. Quincy, is that the name?"

Ichigo, after hearing Naruto's question, sighed as he sat down, a complicated look on his face as he never expected to be telling the story of his life to an eight-years old kid. Not even in his wildest dreams. "My mother, Masaki Kurosaki, was a Quincy, while my dad, Isshin Kurosaki, is a Shinigami," explained Ichigo.

"Ah…," murmured Naruto in enlightenment before nodding. He then adopted a thoughtful look on his face, "Then… the reason why you're all in my world is…?"

Previously, Ichigo along with his two tenants briefly explained who they were and their powers, but they failed to mention how they actually ended up in Naruto's words, that was full of ninjas and the likes. Not only that, the eight-years old blonde couldn't help but to wonder why they ended up in Konoha right at the time that he needed help.

As for Ichigo, when he heard Naruto's question, he sighed before giving Old-man Zangetsu a pleading look. The tall man sighed before walking forward, taking Naruto's attention for himself, "Child, in our world, there exists something called the Hōgyoku, which is an object that grants wishes. Apparently, it sensed your pleads for power, and brought us to this world so we could help you."

"My wishes for… power?" asked Naruto, as he looked at them in a daze, thinking back to all those times in his life were he prayed for having more power. Then, this actually meant… that his wishes were answered?! At the same time, however, Naruto couldn't help but to ask, "But how are you supposed to help me? Wait…. Why would you even help me?"

Sure, those three main be powerful, but Naruto didn't believe that they could train him on any way, as he didn't possess none of the three powers. Not only that, it seemed as if Ichigo was sealed in his mind, which also meant that they wouldn't be able to directly help him. However, what was most surprising was… why would they even help him?

"That…," murmured Old-man Zangetsu before sighing, "For your second question, as long as we make you powerful, then our role here will be fulfilled, and we'll be able to retreat back to our world. As for your first question…."

"The damnable orb fused Kingy's powers with you," interrupted Zangetsu without a care in the world, ignoring Old-man Zangetsu's stern glance in his direction, "basically, you are now a Shinigami, a Hollow and a Quincy…. Congrats!"

"Ichigo-san's powers fused with me…? I'm a Shinigami, a Quincy and a Hollow…?" asked Naruto in astonishment, as if he couldn't comprehend what was happening right before his eyes. "Then, does this mean that since Ichigo-san's powers are fused with me, you two are…?"

"Nope," answered Zangetsu before Naruto could even finish his question, "We are still Kingy's powers… you are going to get yourself a Zanpakutō spirit all for yourself…! Apparently, the Hōgyoku basically got the origins of Kingy's powers and implanted it on you, which only means his Shinigami, Quincy and Hollow powers in their most primal states."

At that time, Old-man Zangetsu nodded approvingly as he continued, "Not only that, child, but there's a core difference between yours and Ichigo's powers… While Ichigo is a Shinigami with Hollow and Quincy powers, that's not the case for you. You are in fact a Hollow, a Quincy and a Shinigami all at the same time, and not only a Shinigami with the same powers as the other two."

"Wait… what?!" cried Ichigo in astonishment as he looked at Old-man Zangetsu disbelievingly, as this was the first time that he had heard of such things. "Then doesn't this mean that his Hollow and Quincy powers are going to be…?"

"Just as strong as his Shinigami powers," nodded Old-man Zangetsu in affirmation, "Yes, that's exactly it. While you only possess Hollow powers because a hollow fused with your mother, and Quincy powers because of your lineage, the child contains all of the three powers as core of his being, which means that his Hollow and Quincy powers are much stronger than yours…."

"This…," murmured Ichigo as his eyes widened greatly. He had always thought that the kid had only been granted the three powers, but not that his essence itself as a human had been changed. Who would have thought that the Hōgyoku was so powerful?

"Wait, Old-man, then do you mean," began Naruto, making everyone look back at him in surprise, "That I'm no longer human? But I don't feel anything different, except for… Ah."

At that moment, Naruto suddenly realized why his arm had grown back. Most likely, the Hōgyoku had a hand in that process. Still, that didn't really explain other things. "Well, still, should I be feeling anything different?"

"Actually, no," Old-man Zangetsu shook his head, and explained, "Right now, you are indeed like a human… before you can awaken your powers, there's something that you need to do."

"Which is…?"

"Child, you need to die," answered Old-man Zangetsu firmly.

"Oh…." murmured Naruto in astonishment as his eyes widened, clearly taken aback by that answer. Sure, he had expected that he needed to go through some ritual or something, but dying…? For some reason, that option didn't appeal too much to him. "You know, I don't really think that that's going to work…."

Sighing, Ichigo tried to correct the misunderstanding that Old-man Zangetsu had caused, "Naruto, it isn't exactly dying.. You see, it's a process called Encroachment, which is basically the corrosion of a Soul's Chain of Fate, which is what binds a soul to their living bodies. Normally, such a process would make Souls become Hollows, but if manipulated correctly, it can actually awaken your powers."

"Ah? Why?" Naruto looked at Ichigo puzzledly.

"Because… this process actually severs humanity, which is the requirement to activate one's own Shinigami powers and Hollow powers. As for the Quincy powers, they can be trained right now, without any problem, but it would be best to wait for you to awaken all of your bloodlines."

"Then…," Naruto started, trying to confirm the information, "I won't actually die, right?"

"Well, you'll be able to return to your body, if that's what you want to know," answered Ichigo plainly, clearly unaware of a better way to phrase it. "Your soul will become detached from your body, but it will still be possible to bring it back…"

As he said so, he suddenly stopped as he seemed to have realized something, "Wait… My Shinigami badge would really help out in this situation… damn, why did it have to be destroyed in my battle against Yhwach?!"

However, before Ichigo could even finish, right in front of Naruto, a dark purple light appeared, before it slowly morphed into a small wooden-like object, with the small marking of a stylish skull in the middle. Seeing the badge hovering in the air, right in front of Naruto, Ichigo could only widen his eyes in amazement.

"Isn't that…?" Ichigo murmured disbelievingly before he suddenly realized what had happened, "Oh, the Hōgyoku…." shaking his head, Ichigo grabbed the badge and looked at it closely. Upon seeing that everything was in order, he handed it back to Naruto.

"Well, this practically solves some of our problems," sighed Ichigo. At that moment, he couldn't help but to think that once in a while, the Hōgyoku could really end up being helpful. Looking at Naruto, who was gazing at the small badge with curiosity, Ichigo explained, "This will be helpful in the process of Encroachment. Now, all that's left is to find a suitable place…"

"Suitable place?" Naruto looked up at Ichigo curiously, as he stored away the small badge in his clothes. Although he was curious if he could bring it back to the real world, since he was supposedly in his subconscious, he didn't think too much into it. "What are you looking for?"

"A place where a large hole could be created," Ichigo thought over for a bit before explaining, "and somewhere with no one in the surroundings, since… well.. you're going to be loud."

"…Loud?"

"Don't think too much into it," sighed Ichigo, as he thought back to how much he had howled in pain during his own Encroachment. "Anyways, does any place come to your mind?"

"Hmm…," Naruto quickly ran over the places he knew in his mind. Obviously, it couldn't be close to the village, and a place where he could easily destroy stuff without any problems… which would be… "Alright, I think I have an idea. The place where we are in is called the Forest of Death… as long as we go deeper into it, we should be able to reach a place that fits your needs."

"Then that settles it," Ichigo nodded before turning towards Old-man Zangetsu, "Alright, let him back."

Nodding, Zangetsu merely snapped his fingers, and Naruto disappeared from sight, regaining consciousness in the real world. Now that the blonde boy was gone, Ichigo turned towards the wall near him, which in the moment that Naruto disappeared, turned back into a cage.

"So, any reason why you didn't want the kid to see you?"

"Not of your interest, Shinigami," a deep voice came from the other side of the cage, as the huge eye made itself visible once more. "I simply didn't want to reveal my appearance so soon… There's no other meaning behind my actions."

"Alright, alright," Ichigo shook his head before continuing, "Then, I have a favor to ask you. Aside from binding Naruto, do you have some way to make me go back to the world…? I'm currently sealed inside the kid, so if you can make some vessel for me…"

Although it would be possible to carry on the process of Encroachment from within Naruto's mind, it would be much better to do it in the same way that Urahara and Tessai had done, so he figured that since the being behind the cage was so overpowered, it maybe could help him out in that.

"A way to make you appear in the real world…?" murmured the being behind the cage before it huffed. "Alright, it's possible… be ready in two minutes."

After that, the eye disappeared from sight, leaving Ichigo alone with his two tenants. Looking at them, Ichigo asked, "So, we just do it in the same way that Urahara did it, right?"

"Pretty much it," nodded Zangetsu.

"That should work for the best," Old-man Zangetsu also nodded, but he also added some other information, "However, you should remember that the situation is different from before. Right now, we are going to awaken his powers, while what Urahara did was to recover yours… as such, that training in the beginning to recover Reiatsu won't be needed."

"Yeah, sure," nodded Ichigo, but he suddenly stopped as he remembered something. "Wait… Reiatsu… this world _has_ Reiatsu, right…? Or else, we won't be able to, you know, do everything."

"Don't worry," Old-man Zangetsu merely shook his head as he smiled faintly, thinking back to the information the Hōgyoku had granted him, "although the Ninjas in the world use chakra, there is still Reiatsu, and in fact, it's even more abundant than back in our world. It should work perfectly."

"Oh, then this should-"

"Time's up," said the being from behind the cage. Before Ichigo could even figure out what was happening, the scenario around him distorted and he blacked out, succumbing into slumber.

…

…

…

Within a certain clearing in the forest of death, there was a young blonde boy, around eight years old, who was preparing to set-off in the direction of the deepest parts of the Forest of Death. Before he could do so, however, he felt a tugging feeling in his stomach. It was as if there was something burning within his body.

"What…?!" cried out Naruto in astonishment as he lifted up his shirt, only to see that right in the middle of his stomach-area, there was what seemed to be a seal that covered the greater part of his upper body, and from it, there seemed to be some sort of red chakra slipping out. "This… what's happening?!"

In the eight years that Naruto had lived, never had such a strange event taken place, and at that moment, he couldn't help but to be deeply surprised. A constant stream of red chakra was being emitted from the seal, but at the same time, Naruto was sure that it wasn't his chakra. However, if that was the case, how come it was originating from his own body?!

Soon, however, his questions were quickly destroyed, as all of the crimson chakra that his body had emanated condensed in front of him, forming what seemed to be the shape of the human body. Initially, it was only a large mass of chakra, but it slowly begun to solidify, and before long, it looked like a young man.

This particular man had long, red hair that reached his back, and a handsome and wild face, with what seemed to be feline features. He was tall, around Ichigo's height, and was wearing a red cloak, that reached all the way to his ankles, while his feet were covered in two sandals.

"This is…," Naruto's eyes widened in thought. Although this man looked clearly unfamiliar, Naruto was sure of who he was. "… Ichigo-san?"

In the next moment, the eyes of the man opened, revealing two deep orange-orbs with slits for pupils. Initially, the man looked around confusedly, before his gaze settled on Naruto and an expression of enlightenment appeared on his face.

"So it worked," murmured the man before looking at Naruto, now noticing the strange expression on his face. "What's wrong? Is there something on my face?"

Obviously, Ichigo had said such words jokingly, but much to his surprise, Naruto nodded slowly at his words, a deep and complex expression on his features. Noticing that, Ichigo's eyes widened, "Wait, there's actually something on my face?"

Instead of answering, Naruto only looked at him in silence for a long time, before he finally managed to snap out of his surprise. He then looked at Ichigo strangely, "Well, there's something wrong with your face, in fact."

"….Huh?" Ichigo looked at Naruto strangely, before looking around, trying to find something that could serve as a mirror. Not finding anything, he decided to try another thing out. "Zangetsu?"

In the following moment, one sword appeared on each of his hands. One of them was large and mighty, while the other one was smaller, and resembled a trench knife. Those were his two Zanpakutō, and surprisingly enough, Ichigo had been able to summon them without entering his Shinigami mode.

"….It actually worked?" murmured Ichigo in amazement, but before he did anything else, he brought the two swords closer and used the reflection on the metallic-looking part of the blade to discover just what was wrong with his appearance. When he saw his reflection, however, his expression turned baffled. "What the hell?!"

His appearance was completely unlike his previous one. First of all, what the hell was wrong with that hair? Secondly, why did his face look so fox-like? Hell, he was almost resembling Ichimaru, for God's sake!

However, before he could think any further, a deep voice rang in his mind, _"Shinigami, this is the body I created for you using a small percentage of my chakra, which managed to trespass the seal through great effort, which is why it's so pitifully weak. It was modeled after your original appearance, but because of the influence of my own power, it ended up that way."_

"Ah? Are you…?" Ichigo's eyes widened, and although he was already used to voices talking to him in his head, courtesy of the two Zangetsus, this was the first time that he had heard such a voice in his mind.

" _The being behind the cage,"_ the voice answered back. _"However, don't speak out-loud, or else the brat would look at you strangely. Just think and I'll hear… this body is created out of my own essence, after all."_

Noticing the strange look that Naruto was giving him, Ichigo merely smiled awkwardly before trying to follow the being's orders, _"Like this?"_

" _Exactly. Now, as I said before, this body is ethereal, and I simply temporarily placed your consciousness in it. Previously, I noticed that just like me, you're sealed within the boy, but the difference is that as long as your soul doesn't stray too far away from him, and keeps within a certain range, you're still able to move freely through the use of artificial bodies."_

Reaching that point, the voice stopped for a while before continuing, _"I have also analyzed your power, and noticed that it required you to be a Soul to activate them… Since this body is ethereal, your Shinigami powers or whatever you call them should be able to work normally. Your robes, however, will be of a red color, as influence of my own power."_

After saying that, the voice grew quiet, letting Ichigo slowly digest the information it had just given him. After a while, Ichigo nodded slightly and asked, _"Then… can this ethereal body channel Reiatsu?"_

From the explanations that he had received, it seemed as if the being who resided behind the cave had taken its time on researching his own power, so he expected it to already be aware of what Reiatsu means. Just as he thought, the being answered back.

" _In a way, yes, but because it's made from my own power, which is demonic chakra, the attacks that you use will be slightly more powerful than your common 'Reiatsu' based attacks. However, your abilities that are Reiatsu-related should work just fine."_

Nodding, Ichigo said, _"Alright, thanks. If I have any more doubts, I'll ask you."_

" _If I'm willing to answer, that is,"_ grumbled the voice, before it grew quiet. Seeing that, Ichigo merely shook his head before looking back at Naruto, who had been gazing at him with a strange expression for quite some time.

"Alright, Naruto," said Ichigo, "Bring me to a suitable place and we will start the process."

Without a single word, Naruto nodded, knowing that it wouldn't really matter if Ichigo explained how he had appeared out of his body or not. In the end, it wouldn't really change anything, so Naruto couldn't bring himself to bother with it.

Pointing towards a direction, Naruto said, "Let's head that way."

"That way?" said Ichigo as he looked at the direction that Naruto was pointing at. He then nodded and walked over to Naruto, who was about to start running. Reaching the young boy, he knelt down on the ground in front of him and said, "Alright, hop-on. You can guide the way while I walk. It'll be faster this way."

"…." Naruto looked at Ichigo's back with a little bit of reluctance before nodding, "Alright…," he then took a step forward and adjusted his back in the piggy-back position. Ichigo, noticing that Naruto was ready, lifted his body up from the ground.

"Let's go," he smiled lightly, before smashing his feet against the ground, and in the next moment, he disappeared from sight, his speed already going beyond what the human eye could capture. Apparently, his Shunpo was still working just fine.

Naruto, however, didn't seem to be in a good state of mind. "W-what was t-that?!"

In one second, he was standing in the middle of the clearing, while in the other, he was in a completely different place, on top of a tree's branch! Just what sort of unbelievable speed was this?!

"Shunpo," explained Ichigo plainly, as if it was obvious, "a movement ability of the Shinigamis… I'll teach it to you later on."

Ichigo may not be a Master at Shunpo, and only a Shunpo Expert, but since he was taught by Yoruichi, one of the fastest Shunpo Masters, he could already be considered one of the best. At the same time, however, he knew that the fast speed could cause some strain on the young boy's body, so he decided to try something out.

Concentrating a little, he managed to cover the boy on his back with a protective layer of Reiatsu, that was mixed with demonic chakra. At the very least, this would be able to block most of the effects.

In the next moment, Ichigo used Shunpo once more, and afterward, he looked at Naruto, and noticed that although he was still slightly dazed, he was in a much better state than this before. "Is it better now?"

"Yes..," murmured Naruto, his mind a little disorientated. He didn't say another word, as he tried to fix up his sense of direction. It was clear that the first Shunpo had had quite a big effect on the young boy.

Sighing, Ichigo knew that he would get used to it with time, and simply continuing using Shunpo, going through vast distances in seconds. Before long, he reached what seemed to be a considerable distance from the village.

"Is this place far enough…?" wondered Ichigo out-loud before shrugging his shoulders, "Well, it should work… If anyone does come, I'll just deal with them."

After saying so, he jumped off of the trees and reached the ground, letting Naruto down, who immediately collapsed. After a few minutes, Naruto finally managed to stabilize his condition. Since everything was already dealt with, Ichigo could finally move to the main attraction.

After warning Naruto to maintain some distance from him, Ichigo walked for a few dozens of meters and placed his hands on top of the grass, an expression of concentration on his face as he closed his eyes and stored away his Zanpakutōs. After a few seconds, he opened his eyes once more and murmured, "Gran Rey Cero."

From his extended hand, a huge beam red-colored beam of light erupted, completely blinding Naruto in its light, causing the young blonde to close his eyes. When he opened them again, what appeared in front of him was Ichigo hovering mid-air, with a huge pit beneath him.

"This… that's…." murmured Naruto in awe, an expression of utmost surprise on his face. "How…?"

"Another ability," Ichigo explained before he hovered out of the area of the hole and stepped on the ground of its borders. "A Hollow power… Gran Rey Cero. You should be able to use if after some training, don't worry."

After saying so, he walked over to Naruto and picked him up with his arms, before jumping down into the large pit, completely ignoring the boy's cries of surprise. Upon reaching the ground, he let Naruto down before smiling lightly, "Now, we can begin."'

"Ah…?" Naruto looked at Ichigo strangely, before quickly straightening up his body. He didn't know why they were in the deep pit that Ichigo had created, but he wasn't about to question it. "Alright.. what now?"

"Take out the badge."

Nodding, Naruto placed his hands in his slightly torn and tattered clothes, surprisingly finding the small Shinigami Badge, that for some reason, was still on his body even though he had clearly received it on his mind. Looking back at Ichigo, he asked, "What now?"

"Clench your hands over it slightly," explained Ichigo as he thought back to how he used to activate it before. "This should be enough for it to work."

Following the now red-haired man's command, Naruto did as he was told, and in the next moment, he felt a fuzzy sensation fill his entire body. Before he knew it, Naruto was watching his lifeless body fall to the ground. "Ah?!"

Naruto looked at his body in shock, clearly surprised at having to see his own body fall in front of him. It was also at that time that he noticed that his body was slightly transparent, although not really apparent, and in the middle of his chest, there was a chain jutting out, connecting him to his body.

"This… am I dead?"

"Not really," Ichigo shook his head, "It simply expelled your soul from your body… If you were truly dead, then I believe that the being within you would be released…."

Although Ichigo may not really know much about seals, he was at least aware that if a vessel was no longer alive, than whatever was sealed inside would simply lose its restraints. This was basic knowledge, even to him that had never come into contact with seals before.

"….The being within me?" asked Naruto as he looked at Ichigo puzzledly. "Is there something sealed within me apart from you…?"

Ichigo's eyes suddenly widened, as he just now remembered the fact that the being behind the gates was trying to keep its existence a secret. Shaking his head, Ichigo said plainly, "That's not important right now. Before that…."

" _Could you restrain him right now?"_ quickly asked Ichigo in his mind.

" _Alright… Don't make me regret this, Shinigami."_

In the next moment, from Naruto's stomach, countless chains, clearly different from the one in his chest, appeared, which completely encircled his torso, locking him tightly.

"What?!" cried Naruto in shock before he looked at Ichigo in despair, "What's happening?!"

"For this process, you need to be restrained," sighed Ichigo as he walked over to Naruto and analyzed the durability of the chains. Seeing that they seemed to be rather resilient, Ichigo couldn't help but to praise silently, _"Good chains…."_

" _They are not mine,"_ the voice rang in Ichigo's head once more, _"They are simply part of the power that the kid's mother has… I used to be sealed inside her. After I was released and sealed inside the boy, I seemed to have retained some of her powers, including these chains. Their power, however, in my hands is much lesser than the original."_

Ichigo nodded upon hearing the voice's words, and just as he was about to continue the process, he suddenly realized something, _"Wait….are the boys parents alive? You said that she has… I thought that they had died or something. It seemed like that at least."_

" _It's complicated,"_ sighed the being behind the cages, _"They are alive, but they might as well be dead inside… A lot of complicated things happened after the boy's birth… It's best that you just carry on with the process right now. You can learn the rest afterward."_

Shrugging his shoulders, Ichigo only nodded before looking back at Naruto, his gaze suddenly turning stern and serious, "Look, this process is dangerous, and it can lead to you becoming a Hollow, but…."

Ichigo's body suddenly disappeared, reappearing in the edge of the hole, looking down at Naruto, who was simply gazing at him with clear fear and puzzlement.

"I believe that you can do it!" screamed out Ichigo, loud enough so Naruto could hear him from the bottle of the hole. "What you need to do is… Climb out of the hole while being restrained! If you can do it, then everything should work out!"

Ichigo, in reality, had no idea whatsoever of what he was doing, and was only repeating the words that Urahara had said during 'The Shattered Shaft' process. Following that, Ichigo waved his hands, and the chains that connected Naruto to his body were cut in half. At the same time, Ichigo's figure flickered, before reappearing in the same position again, but this time carrying Naruto's real body in his arms.

"Now… good luck!" exclaimed Ichigo as he sat down at the edge of the hole, looking at Naruto with a little bit of pity in his eyes. However, when he noticed that the child had yet to move after a long time, he added, "I suggest you hurry! Look down at your chest!"

Immediately, Naruto who had been standing there dazedly looked down at his own chest, only to see a terrifying scene. The end of his chains had grown mouths, and they were actually… eating itself! Slowly, the chains were beginning to eat itself from the top in a frightening manner!

"Ah?!" exclaimed Naruto in shock, only to give Ichigo a look of despair, "What's happening?!"

"That's…," began Ichigo, thinking back to the words Urahara had used all those years ago. He then nodded slightly as he ascertained the information, "That chain is called the Chain of Fate, and it will start to consume itself when severed. It's called Corrosion."

Before Naruto could even answer back, Ichigo quickly exclaimed, "Don't try to stop it! If you try to stop the process, it will start eating your soul instead!"

Sighing, Ichigo continued with a look of pity, "Normally, this process takes a few months to happen, but I intentionally sped it up, since it would be better to make you into a Shinigami as soon as possible. At the very most, you have 72 hours before the chains are completely devoured….

"As such, you have before the time's up to transform into a Shinigami and climb up this hole. Or else, you will end up becoming a hollow, and I'll have to… kill you."

Listening to Ichigo's words, Naruto, who had been constantly squirming around in the ground in pain screamed out, "How am I supposed to become a Shinigami?! Tell me that at least!"

Much to Naruto's utter horror, Ichigo only shrugged his shoulders with a helpless expression. "It's something that comes from the soul," explained Ichigo, "It can't be explained… You must feel it!"

In fact, not even Ichigo himself knew how he had done it when he was done suffering the Encroachment. He simply gave in to his most basic instincts, and when he opened his eyes again, there he was, with a mask in his face, once more clad with his black robes. As such, although he wanted to, he couldn't instruct the blonde boy in that matter.

At the same time, however, he knew that as long as he pierced Naruto with his Zanpakutō and transferred him some of his powers, it would be enough to make him into a Shinigami, but Ichigo didn't want that… he wanted Naruto to awaken the _true_ Shinigami powers the Hōgyoku had granted him.

…

…

…

In the middle of the pit, a young boy laid prone on the ground, his breathing ragged as he eyed the chains in front of him with intense hatred. It had already been a few hours since the Encroachment had started, and Naruto was beginning to realize that compared to all of the tortures that he had experienced before, the Corrosion definitely took the crown.

Suddenly, however, the mouths in the chain disappeared, temporarily relieving Naruto from the intense pain. Seeing that, Naruto knew that there would be a couple more hours before it began again. During these past few hours, the young boy had noticed that after a some minutes of constant 'Corrasion', the chains would remain dormant for a few hours.

Although Naruto wasn't sure of how many times had passed, he was sure that more than two days had gone by already, given that this was most likely the tenth or eleventh time that they had died down. At the same time, however, he couldn't help but to be surprised, as he didn't feel any hunger, which probably had to do with his state of being a soul.

Looking up, he glanced at Ichigo, who had been staring at him unblinkingly the entire time. He knew that the orange-turned-red haired man wasn't a bad person, and that this process was the only way, but still… he couldn't help but to loathe the red-haired man a little.

However, at the same time, he knew that this was the chance for him to gain the power he had always desired. With that thought in mind, the young boy slowly lifted his body off the ground and turned his attention to the walls. According to Ichigo, he was supposed to become a Shinigami and climb them… but how was he supposed to?!

Every time the chain would enter a 'dormant' state, he would rack his brains for some way to activate his power, but no matter how much he tried, he couldn't find any way to do it! Ichigo had mentioned that he needed to give in to his most basic instincts, but he had no idea whatsoever of what that was supposed to mean!

"Just what am I supposed to do…?" wondered Naruto, unwilling to give up. He desired for power, that was for sure, but at the same time, he had no idea on how he was supposed to obtain it. Now that he had the chance, he wasn't willing to let it go, but he had no idea how to make this chance worthwhile!

"Hey, Naruto!" exclaimed Ichigo from the borders of the hole, getting Naruto's attention, who immediately looked up in his direction.

"Ichigo-san?! What is it?!" exclaimed Naruto back, straining his voice to make sure it reached all the way to the red-haired young man.

"It has already been 70 hours since the process began," cried out Ichigo, "and, at any moment, the last 'Corrosion' is going to happen. This one, however, is much stronger than the previous ones, so prepare yourself!"

Ichigo clearly remembered how Jinta had told him the same words back then, and he couldn't help but to warn Naruto beforehand, clearly feeling sorry for the young boy. He knew better than anyone how nerve-wracking and painful the 'Corrosion' could be, specially the last one.

"What?!" screamed out Naruto as his eyes widened. "Seventy hours?! The last one?!"

With widened eyes, Naruto thought back Ichigo's words. This meant that time was literally running out! He believed that he had at the very least six or so hours, but who would have thought that there were only two! Not only that, the last 'Corrosion' could happen at any moment, so how could Naruto not be frightened?!

"But-" tried to say Naruto, but before he could do so, mouths appeared all over his chains, and in an unprecedented speed, the chain started to eat itself, tearing through various parts in seconds. Before Naruto could even register what was happening, the Chain of Fate ate itself entirely, leaving behind only a hollow hole in Naruto's chest.

"What…?" murmured Naruto, his eyes widened in disbelief. The next second, however, a white substance erupted from his mouth. It was dense and sticky, and completely wrapped itself around the young boy's face.

Pain.

Unimaginable pain.

Like a fire burning his entire body, Naruto felt as if his life-force itself was being destroyed. The pain was eating him from inside, destroying what was left of his humanity. By each passing second, more liquid came out of his mouth, completely wrapping itself around Naruto's face.

Following that, the liquid begun to solidify, and surely enough, it started to assume the face of a mask. Slowly, the mask completely covered Naruto's mouth, and his howls of pain were muffled. His body, however, hadn't stopped moving, and he was constantly wriggling around in the ground, clearly desperate.

"It's starting," murmured Ichigo, as he subconsciously stroked the hilt of his two swords with his hands, getting up from the ground. His orange slitted eyes closely analyzed Naruto, and upon noticing something, his expression got a little less tense. "It seems he is resisting it… in the same way that I did, huh?"

" _Shinigami! What is happening?!_ " suddenly screamed out the voice in Ichigo's head, clearly infuriated. _"Why is my seal being weakened.. it's as if he is dying! What is the meaning of this?! You told me that such a thing wouldn't happen!"_

" _Don't worry,"_ Ichigo shook his head as he edged closer to the hole, ready to act at any given moment. _"He's doing just fine… this is supposed to happen. Right now, he should be in his inner world, talking with his Shinigami powers.."_

" _Then, is there some way to make sure that nothing bad happens?!"_ pressed on the voice. It wasn't exactly worried about the boy, but also worried about itself, since it could feel that if the kid was indeed consumed, then since he was sealed, there was a fifty-fifty chance of it also being consumed.

" _I believe that if worse comes to worst, the Hōgyoku would intervene, so don't worry,"_ reaffirmed Ichigo, although his expression was still one of wary. It was unknown whether or not he was trying to comfort the existence behind the cage or himself

…

…

…

In another place, Naruto's eyes opened. Looking around, he discovered that he was no longer in the middle of the hole, in the process of hollowfication, but instead back in the sewer. This area, however, was clearly different than the area where he had been before, as the lighting in the region was much better, and it was far more wider.

"Where is this…?" murmured Naruto in shock, wondering where he had ended up. He could clearly see that neither Zangetsu nor Old-man Zangetsu were around, and he seemed to be alone. However, he knew better than to believe in his own eyes. "Is someone there?!"

For a long time, no answer came, and just as Naruto was about to give up, from behind him, he heard a calm and haughty voice.

"I'm here."

"Huh?" cried out Naruto as he turned around, only to find no one. He had clearly heard someone, and that voice had come from behind him… how come there was no one there?! "Where are you?!"

"In front of you," the voice said once more, and before Naruto even knew it, his eyes were staring into deep red eyes, that seemed to shimmer with power. Those eyes contained some deep and profound power, and the moment Naruto saw them, he fell to the ground, shocked.

"W-what..?!" stuttered Naruto in shock, as he gazed at the person in front of him, or better yet, at the young woman in front of him. She seemed to be sixteen-seventeen years old, and had long golden hair, that reached all the way to the end of her back. Her eyes were of a deep red color, almost blood-red, which glared at him with intensity.

Around the woman's neck, there was a golden necklace, and she donned what seemed to a golden armor, that seemed to be unlike the ones owned by Shinigami and Ninjas. It seemed to be more of a medieval type, made out of gold, with many ancient black and red markings. The armor, however, revealed her mid-drift, which was covered in red tattoos.

One of the girls' arms was covered in armor, while the other was covered in a black cloak embroiled in red markings, which only covered half of her torso. All in all, she possessed a rather exotic appearance, and was unlike everything that Naruto had ever seen.

"W-who are you..? asked Naruto in shock, clearly taken aback by the woman's appearance. Not only was she wearing a surprising armor that was rather revealing, her face was extremely beautiful, and was most likely the most perfect one that Naruto had ever had the pleasure of seeing."W-why are you here?"

"I'm not really sure," the girl shook her head, a calm yet lofty expression on her dignified features, "but apparently, I was born only recently. I'm the manifestation of your Shinigami powers, *********"

"Huh?" asked Naruto puzzledly, as he could not understand the last words that she had said. "….Can you repeat that?"

"*********" repeated the girl plainly, but once more, Naruto couldn't hear. Noticing that, she sighed, "Child, my name matters not. Currently, you are suffering from forced hollowfication… Although I have only been born this day, I already possess many information about you and my role. Currently, you have two options… you could either awake your own Hollow powers, and embrace your inner hollow, or you could awake your Shinigami powers, which means to accept me."

Reaching that point, the exotic girl adopted a serious expression, "Or.. you could accept both powers, but for that, you'll have to first accept me."

 _She is the manifestation of my Shinigami powers?!,_ thought Naruto as his eyes widened. _So, she is my Zanpakutō spirit? Like Zangetsu…?_

"Wait… what about the manifestation of the Quincy and Hollow powers..?" asked Naruto, ignoring the girl's question.

"They are being restrained by me," sighed the girl as she waved her hands, and at her sides, two cocoons appeared, completely made out of wraps. "They are within these two cocoons… I'm keeping them at bay, since they can be rather…. _Violent."_

Saying that, she took a step forward and looked at Naruto dead in the eye, "Before you can deal with them, you must first awaken your Shinigami powers, which is to accept me… do you dare to go through with this, Child?"

"I-I…." murmured Naruto, before his eyes suddenly turned resolute. "I do!"

He had always desired for powers.. why would he give up now?! This was the perfect chance to acquire the power he had ever wanted… why would he not accept it?!

However, even after seeing the determination in Naruto's eyes, the girl merely smiled mysteriously, "Are you sure? The power I represent isn't easy to handle… Although I was derived from the Shinigami's power, I'm not nearly as vulgar or as weak as his own Shinigami powers. The Hōgyoku merely took his power as inspiration to create me, and because of that, there's no relation between us."

Saying so far, she took one more step forward, and as if space had bent itself, that single step made her appear right in front of Naruto, skipping through several meters. Smiling at him coldly, the mysterious girl said, "I'm no simple Zanpakutō spirit… I'm the King of Kings… the ultimate Zanpakutō spirit, the most powerful one to ever exist… do you dare to embrace my power?! This power may corrupt you, may devour you from inside, and may drive you insane… Do you still dare?!"

However, much to the woman's surprise, Naruto merely looked at her plainly, a deadly and resolute look on his face as he smiled without a single emotion, "What makes you think that I'm not insane already…? I have long since died inside…," he murmured grimly before saying, "I accept your power…. I don't care how dangerous it may be, bring it on!"

Upon hearing Naruto's words, the expression on the girl's face turned proud, as she smiled with superiority, "If that's so, then so be it!" she then extended her hand in Naruto's direction. "Take my hand, and I shall grant you power. The power of the King of Kings… the power to lord over the entire world… The power to rule over everything in existence! The power that will place you in the very top of all existence!"

Without a single word, Naruto extended his arm and firmly grasped his hand with the girl's own. Their fingers interlocked, and in the next moment, the entire sewer was filled with a blinding white light.

Power… Boundless power started to course through Naruto's body, filling his veins with a tyrannical and ruthless spirit that had its nobility engraved in its very essence!

The entire area started to tremble, and before long, Naruto and his Zanpakutō spirit disappeared from the sewer.

 **Read & Review~!**


	3. Training

**_Disclaimer: I don't own either Bleach, or Naruto or anything else that may appear in this story._**

 ** _Beta-read: Kryokon_**

* * *

 **Chapter 3 - Training**

* * *

At the same time that Naruto took his Zanpakutō spirit's hand, at the real world, the hollowfication process suddenly halted, and, from within the whole, a shadow jumped out. Seeing that, Ichigo, who had been looking at the scene from the side suddenly stood up, and his grip of his two swords unconsciously tightened.

 _It worked...right?,_ thought Ichigo, as he tried to peer into the smoke that had suddenly shrouded the area, making him unable to see through it. _At the very least, this is what happened with me... Everything worked perfectly, so it must have definitely succeeded._

Even while the orange-turned-red haired main thought that, he still couldn't help but to enter a battle-stance, expecting the worst. After all, from his experiences, he had learned that being optimistic about the situation wasn't the way to go... It could always get worse.

However, it seemed as if destiny had somehow taken a break of tormenting his life, as when the smoke began to disperse away, he was finally able to gaze upon the result of his 'test'. Standing on top of the ground, surrounded by the few remaining strands and wisps of smoke, was an eight-year old boy, with a hollow mask on his face, a Shinigami outfit cladding his figure, and a Zanpakutō on his left hand.

Although he was clearly wearing a mask, which was the trade-mark sign of a hollow, Ichigo knew that it had been successful, for the same thing had happened to him previously, when he had been the one to go through the process. At the same time, however, the red-haired man couldn't help but to notice the strange design of the hollow mask. If anything, it was completely unlike everything that he had ever seen.

The mask covered Naruto's entire face, just like any other hollow mask, and, just as Ichigo's own mask, it had what seemed to be clenched teeth on the mouth region. However, in the eyes region, it took a completely different shape, as there was no 'hole' for the eyes on the right side, only what appeared to be a bony-looking eye-patch. The left one, however, was normal, with the same gap for the eyes as him.

Yet, the mask still couldn't be considered as the most eye-catching part. What truly demanded attention was the Zanpakutō which hanged by Naruto's hands. It was clearly unlike the original Zangetsu, which was a huge greatsword, but at the same time, it was also unlike the normal, standard katana Zanpakutō.

Naruto's Zanpakutō assumed the shape of a nodachi, which was one of the variations of the sealed appearances of a Zanpakutō. It was similar to the one wielded by Kenpachi, and like any other nodachi, was longer than a katana, with an even lengthier hilt. This, however, was clearly unfitting for the eight-years old Naruto's height, as the blade itself was already longer than Naruto by a few centimeters.

While Ichigo was busy staring at Naruto's new form, the young boy himself looked around his surroundings strangely, before he brought his hand to his face, trying to take off the mask. However, he soon noticed that it wouldn't budge, so he directed his attention to the large sword in his hands.

Ichigo seemed to have noticed that, and walked over to him while saying, "Use the bottom of the sword to crack it off. It's the only method." He had clearly noticed what was on the boy's mind, as he had also been through that the first time. Seeing the boy was still hesitating a little, he sighed, "Take me up on this; it won't hurt."

Since he had been told by Ichigo twice, Naruto didn't hesitate any longer forcefully crashed the bottom of his sword against the mask. Surprisingly, just from that light crash, the mask cracked, before falling off his face, revealing childish features, his single blue eye and his six whiskers which adorned his face.

"It... worked?" said Naruto tentatively, staring at the clothes he wore, then looking at Ichigo's direction. Upon seeing his clothes, he revealed an expression of confusion. "How come our clothes are different? Did it not work?"

"It did," said Ichigo as he looked at his own robes slightly. The design was already different from normal Shinigami robes, and because of the Kyuubi's interference, it had changed into a deep red color. Sighing, Ichigo looked back at Naruto, "Don't mind the clothes; I can assure you that you're now a Shinigami, just like me."

Upon hearing Ichigo's confirmation, Naruto's eyes lit-up, "Then do you mean that I can learn all those Shinigami abilities?" he then immediately added, "When can I begin learning them?"

"Soon," Ichigo said before raising his two swords up. He then smiled at Naruto, "Before that, how about a little spar? I need to see how much of a natural you are at handling swords before I can begin teaching you the basics of Zanjutsu, which is art of wielding Zanpakutō."

Naruto, however, revealed a troubled expression, as he remembered the words the blonde girl had told him. If he had interpreted it correctly, then he should have gained a colossal amount of power, so he was actually afraid of harming Ichigo. "Ichigo-san, are you sure about this?"

"Why would I not be?" smiled Ichigo as he shook his two swords slightly, "Come on, just come at me with all you got!" In Ichigo's opinion, even if Naruto was talented, he would still have a hard time with learning Zanjutsu. After all, nodachi-type Zanpakutō were the most difficult one to handle, even more to someone as small as him.

"..."

The young blonde looked at Ichigo quietly, but upon seeing the look in the red-haired man's eyes, he mustered up his confidence. Without a single word, he raised up his Zanpakutō, which was easily bigger than him by a few heads, and narrowed his eyes at Ichigo. He could clearly feel that it was heavy, but he could still wield it with some effort.

"Here I come!" exclaimed Naruto as he dashed forward, clumsily trying to hack at Ichigo with his swords. As for the red-haired man, he merely side-stepped, causing Naruto's sword to collide against the ground, creating a small fissure. "...Ara?"

Naruto looked at his sword with a dazed expression, and then looked at Ichigo again, who was standing right by his side, before mustering up his strength and while raising his sword from the ground, slashing at it side-ways towards Ichigo, in an arc fashion.

"I suppose we will have to work on your speed," murmured Ichigo as he stepped back slightly, completely dodging the blade. "And your technique... and your strength... well, everything."

From what he had seen so far, Naruto was a complete beginner with a sword, only able to use his slightly strong strength – Which made Ichigo surprised, since it was far more than what an eight-year old should have – to try and almost fail at slashing his surroundings. From what he could see, there was a long way ahead of him.

However, it seemed as if Ichigo had underestimated the boy's determination, as even after miserably failing, he raised his nodachi up once more, and ran in Ichigo's direction, before swiping it down, aiming for his torso. This strike, however, in Ichigo's eyes was in complete slow-motion, as he once more merely walked to the side.

Quickly after, Naruto tried to hack at him once more, but the result was the same; he couldn't even scratch the red-haired man's hair. Unwilling to give up, Naruto kept trying, hacking and slashing towards Ichigo again and again, but to no avail.

At some point through the so-called duel, Ichigo had sheathed his two swords, as he saw that they wouldn't even be needed. Even though Naruto's technique was horrible, he had to admit that the boy had some strength, and more than anything, a strong drive.

In the end, however, not even Naruto, who had Uzumaki blood coursing through his veins, could keep up with his continuous slashes. Not even a few minutes later, he collapsed to the ground, his large nodachi falling by his side.

The young boy's breathing was completely ragged, and he was thoroughly exhausted. He had really reached his limit. At the same time, however, Naruto's 'sparring' partner, Ichigo, was calmly standing on the ground, looking at Naruto's sorry state with a small smile.

Walking over to the boy, he sat by his side and glanced at his worn-down features and asked, "Tired?"

"Y-yeah," murmured Naruto between deep breaths. "...Y-you are better than I thought..."

Ichigo, however, shook his head.

"Don't be surprised, it took me a long time to reach this state," explained Ichigo as he smiled sadly, thinking of all he had been through. "But, anyhow, although you completely suck at swordsmanship, you have got one hell of determination. I'm surprised."

The red-haired man then stopped slightly before continuing, "So, I believe that you met with your Zanpakutō Spirit? How was it?"

"She... was strange," begun Naruto, who by now could already talk. It was indeed as they say; Uzumakis do indeed have a strong vitality. The blonde-boy then stopped slightly and continued, "However, she promised me power... ultimate power, and because of that, I thought that I was stronger than you. But, it seems that I was wrong."

"Promised you power?" Ichigo raised an eyebrow at Naruto's statement before shaking his head. "Most likely, what your Zanpakutō spirit meant was the potential for greatness, and not power itself. After all," Ichigo then paused briefly, his expression growing slightly more serene. "Power is earned, not given."

To Ichigo, those last words couldn't be any more true, as his life was the prime example of that. Every time that he required power, be it for revenge, or for saving his friends, he always had to work hard for it. If it wasn't for his own blood and sweat, he definitely wouldn't have reached his current level. At the same time, he also realized that what the Hōgyoku had done wasn't granting Naruto powers. In reality, it had actually given Naruto the chance to become powerful.

"Anyhow, Naruto, after you have rested up, we'll begin with some basic sword training. I might as well teach you what I know about Zanjutsu," said Ichigo as he got up from the ground and stretched his body a little, before storing away his smallest sword, and doing some movements while wielding his bigger one, in order to remember some of the basics he might have forgotten.

After a few minutes, Naruto slowly rose up from the ground and grabbed his nodachi Zanpakutō, and raised it up, trying to copy Ichigo's movements, only to fail miserably at it. The red-haired man, seeing that, stopped and walked over to the blonde boy.

"It won't do any good to copy me," explained Ichigo as he stored away his remaining sword, looking at the sword in Naruto's hands. "Your Zanpakutō is of the nodachi type, and although it carries more strength than the normal katana-type, it's much more difficult to wield and heavier. As such, before we start anything else, you need to familiarize yourself with your sword."

Reaching that part, Ichigo took out of his dual Zangetsu and assumed a stance, holding the sword up high. While keeping this position, he turned back to look at Naruto, "Try to keep yourself in this position without letting your sword down. This should work to increase your arm-strength."

Naruto's strength may be far above children of his own age, but in order to wield a nodachi, Ichigo knew that it was far from sufficient. Since Naruto's frame was small, he would have to make it up with sheer strength. Or else, it would be impossible for him to even touch upon the threshold of Zanjutsu.

"Alright," Naruto nodded, and did as he was told, raising his Zanpakutō up, and trying to keep his body stable on the ground. As for Ichigo, he merely took a step back to give Naruto space and sat on the ground, trying to think of what else could be done in order to help out the kid.

After all, Ichigo himself didn't really go through proper training, as Urahara had used some rather unconventional methods in order to raise his attacking power exponentially. As such, Ichigo was only doing what he assumed that was the best way to instruct the younger boy.

Some minutes later, Naruto's arms gave in, and while covered in sweat, he released his grip on his sword. However, before Ichigo could even tell him to try again, Naruto clenched his teeth and grasped it on his hands once more, raising the sword up once more. A few minutes later, it once again fell, but it was soon after raised by Naruto once more.

In this manner, more than one hour went by. The current Naruto was completely flushed, his breathing ragged, and his body trembling, but he kept the sword raised, a look of determination in his eyes as he refused to let it down. Ichigo was also looking at him, and had to admit that the boy's endurance had already exceeded his expectations by a large margin.

This wasn't the kind of willpower an eight-years old should have... No, this kind of willpower couldn't even be found on even some adults! And yet, right in front of him, Ichigo was proven otherwise, as Naruto sustained the pain and tiredness, holding his sword up against all odds.

"Naruto... I wonder just what kind of past he has," murmured Ichigo, a complicated expression on his face. He knew that this kind of determination didn't come naturally, it was usually the result of something. Not only that, the first time that he had found the kid he had been missing an arm, while his right eye had been blinded. Initially, Ichigo knew better than to not ask, but by this point, he couldn't help but to grow curious.

" _Curious? I can tell you,"_ rang a voice in Ichigo's mind, startling the red-haired man slightly before he remembered who it belonged to. Sighing, he averted his glance from Naruto slightly while nodding. He didn't say anything, but he was sure that the voice had understood his message. Soon after, just as he expected, it began, " _Well, the kid has lived a tough life... much tougher than what he should have."_

" _The brat was abandoned by his parents at an orphanage, and because of various reasons, he is believed to be the incarnation of a demon... My incarnation."_

" _Ah? Your incarnation? You're a demon?"_ Ichigo's eyes widened in surprise. He had many guesses as to what the being behind the cage was, but a demon wasn't really one of them. After all, what would a demon be doing inside a child?

" _Indeed, I can be considered to be a demon... Well, it would be more correct to call me a manifestation of chakra,"_ explained the voice. " _I'm called as the Kyuubi,_ _the Nine-Tailed Beast... Eight years ago, I had been sealed within the boy's mother, Kushina Uzumaki. However, during her labor, an uninvited guest made his appearance._ "

Reaching that part, the being's, who called itself as the Kyuubi, voice grew cold, " _This 'guest' unsealed me, thereupon controlling me through his damnable eye, ordering me to wreak havoc in the village. At some point, the boy's father, the current leader of the village, appeared, and tried to seal me inside his two children, Naruto Uzumaki and his sister, Miko Uzumaki in exchange for his own life. However, at that moment, the previous leader of the village intervened."_

" _Wait... the kid's father is the leader of the village? He has a sister...?"_ Ichigo's eyes widened. He had already been told that Naruto's parents had abandoned him, but he never would have expected that his father would actually be the very leader of the village.

" _Don't interrupt me, Shinigami. I'm already doing this out of my free-will. It wouldn't be wise to anger me,"_ snarled the Kyuubi, clearly displeased with the sudden interruption. " _Anyhow, continuing from where I left... Yes, the interruption of the previous leader. As I was saying, the previous leader of the village, unwilling to let the kid's father end his life, intervened, using his own life as fuel for the sealing. At the same time, however, since he had interrupted the process mid-way, the seal in Naruto's sister hadn't be done, and as such, he took part of my own chakra with himself, leaving the other half with Naruto. The girl, in the end, didn't receive my own power."_

" _Some days after, Naruto was left behind at an orphanage. From that moment onwards, the villagers, who don't know shit about how seals work, started to believe that the brat was actually my own incarnation. Because of that, their hate towards me, who killed their loved ones, was directioned towards the boy,"_ said the Kyuubi with a grim tone, its voice growing darker by the second. " _Because of that, ever since the kid can remember, he has always been shunned by the entire village, and he has been through many tortures... his previously severed arm and his currently wounded right eye are proof of that."_

" _Wait... are you telling me that his father didn't do anything about it?! He's the current leader of the village, isn't he?!"_ Ichigo's eyes narrowed darkly. Even though he had never met this Minato person, he already had a horrible impression of him. " _What kind of parent is that...?!"_

" _It isn't as simple as that,"_ sighed the Kyuubi, " _there are a lot of circumstances surrounding the entire situation. However, that doesn't mean the brat's parents can't be blamed... they are responsible for the suffering that the kid has gone through... Well, now that you're here, it shouldn't be happening any longer."_

" _Damn right it isn't,"_ said Ichigo, his usually calm demeanor faltering for a split second, temporarily reverting back to his previous, foolhardy and foul-mouthed self. This change, however, didn't last long, as he slowly went back to normal.

" _Anyways, about Naruto... do you know why only his left arm was healed? Why didn't anything happen to his right eye?"_

" _That's beyond me,"_ said the Kyuubi plainly. " _You would be better off asking that little purple orb that question... it was the one who healed the kid's arm, after all."_

Ichigo merely nodded, and was about to continue, but at that point, he heard the soft thud of something falling to the ground. Focusing his attention on Naruto, he immediately found out that he had collapsed on the floor.

"Over-exhaustion...?" murmured Ichigo as he walked over, not really worried. He had personally seen the kid's stamina; it shouldn't have caused any permanent damage. Coming closer, he found out that just as he thought, Naruto had only collapsed due to his wasting all his energy. Looking at the sleeping boy, Ichigo merely shook his head before lifting his body up, hanging him on his shoulder. He then grabbed the sword on the ground and walked over to the tree closest to them.

After placing the kid beneath the tree, with his back resting against the trunk, Ichigo merely smiled, "Sleep tight," before turning his attention towards Naruto's Zanpakutō. Analyzing it closely, he realized that just as he thought, it was much heavier than normal swords, and more than anything, difficult to wield.

"Hmm... my style of fighting wouldn't really be fitting for this type of Zanpakutō... the only Shinigami I can remember that wields a similar sword is Kenpachi, but his style... is pretty suicidal, and heavily bases itself on his durable body, so that won't do," mused Ichigo out-loud, trying to think of what he should teach the kid.

"Although I can teach him the basics of Zanjutsu, as for the more complicated part, the only one that can teach him is his Zanpakutō."

After saying that, he concentrated a little before remembering a technique used by Shinigamis to communicated with their Zanpakutōs, Jinzen. Although Ichigo had rarely made use of it, he still knew its details, and would most likely be able to teach Naruto the basics. With that in mind, he already had the content of this new few lessons planned, so he would be able to rest slightly.

…

…

…

It had already been two months since Naruto had awakened his Shinigami powers, and the blonde-boy was currently having another spar with Ichigo. His stance, although far from perfect, was no longer sloppy, and could be considered to be leaps and bounds above his initial style.

Differently from the first time, however, Naruto wasn't the one doing the attacking. As means of training the young boy's reflexes, Ichigo was the one hacking at him. Obviously, however, he wasn't using his real swords in this situation, and was merely using a wooden stick that he had found lying around.

"Left, right, left, left...," murmured Naruto as he dodged attack after attack, his feet dancing in the ground beneath him, as he made use of his footwork to dodge all of the incoming strikes. His cerulean-blue left eye was narrowed, and beads of sweat fell down from his forehead. Although Ichigo wasn't using even one percent of his true speed, it was already proving to be quite challenging to the young boy.

Suddenly, amidst the continuous strikes, Naruto's left eye widened slightly, and in a single, fluid movement, his Zanpakutō was thrown forward in Ichigo's direction, as he had managed to find an opening in the red-haired man's defenses.

However, before the strike could even come close to Ichigo, the red-haired man's free hand merely intercepted it with a simple slap, completely foiling Naruto's thrust.

"Not bad," murmured Ichigo, a look of approval in his eyes, "However, you'll have to do better."

As he said so, he slightly sped up his attacking speed, and Naruto quickly found himself unable to carry on any further. Jumping a few steps back, he used his large sword as support, almost falling to the ground due to tiredness.

"..W-wait... a little... S-sensei...," murmured Naruto as he slowly stabilized his breathing. He had become calling Ichigo as Sensei a month ago, and the red-haired man had to admit that he quite liked the title. Throwing his wooden stick at the ground, Ichigo merely walked over to Naruto's position.

"Alright, that should be enough for today," sad Ichigo, making Naruto look at him with a surprised expression. Ichigo's next word, however, cleared his doubts. "After all, you still have to hunt for some food today, so I can't overwork you."

Since they were in the middle of the forest, there was no way to ask for food, or even go to a restaurant, so for the past two months, Naruto had been responsible for catching his own food in the wild. Thankfully, as Ichigo's current boy was made of chakra, he didn't require to eat, so Naruto only needed to search for his own food. At the same time, however, it wasn't easy to kill the animals in the Forest of Death.

Maybe it was because of the aura that Ichigo emitted, in the area around Naruto, no animal had even come close. Deeper into the forest, however, it was overly packed with all kinds of beasts, and Naruto had to admit that it was no easy feat to handle them all.

After a few minutes, Naruto finally managed to regain his energy. Ever since he had become a Shinigami, he had been regenerating at an even faster pace, much to his surprise. At the same time, he was also thankful, as it seemed that the progress he did with his spiritual body seemed to also transfer to his physical body, which he almost never used.

At one point, he once tried to activate his Shinigami mode while still within his body, but he soon discovered that to be impossible, as no matter how much he tried, he couldn't activate it. In reality, Naruto wasn't really fond of the idea of leaving his body behind, but he had slowly grown used to it. At the same time, that didn't mean that he was still willing to maintain like that. If he ever got the chance to, he would definitely find a way to activate his Shinigami mode while still within his body.

"So, Sensei, since we aren't going to spar any longer, what should I do now?" asked Naruto as he picked up his Zanpakutō from the ground, turning his attention towards the red-haired man. "Should I already go hunting, or do you having something planned for me?"

To Naruto's words, Ichigo merely nodded as he beckoned him to come closer. Placing his Zanpakutō behind his back, Naruto did as he was told, walking over to the red-haired man. Upon reaching him, Ichigo said, "First, sit down."

"Huh?" asked Naruto strangely. Nevertheless, he still sat down, looking at Ichigo with confusion. "What now?"

"Do as I do," said Ichigo as he released the bigger Zangetsu, and after sitting down cross-legged on the ground, laid it across his legs while closing his eyes. He then opened his eyes slightly, and saw that Naruto had already done the same. "Good. What I'm about to teach you is called Jinzen, which is a method used by Shinigami to communicated with their Zanpakutō spirit."

After saying so, Ichigo started with the instructions, "Firstly, try to relax your mind. Forget about everything else, and only focus on the sword on your lap. Try to connect yourself with your Zanpakutō..."

" _Kingy, you are only saying random bullshit, aren't you?"_

" _Shut the hell up Zangetsu,"_ cursed Ichigo before he continued, although his tone was slightly less relaxed. After all, Zangetsu wasn't wrong. He had no idea what he was doing; he was only telling Naruto what he _assumed_ was the right way to do it. "Well, just keep like that. You shouldn't get it on your first try, but if you keep trying, in a day or two, you should be able to engage in a proper conversation with your Zanpakutō."

Ichigo then paused slightly before continuing, "Also, try to figure out the name of your Zanpakutō while you're at it. If you can do it, you should be able to release the first form of your sword, unlocking the Shikai form of your Zanpakutō."

Even though Ichigo had said such words, he didn't put much faith in it. After all, what Zangetsu had done was actually rare, as Zanpakutōs normally took a long time before they revealed their name. In the end, however, it was worth the try.

"En," Naruto nodded to Ichigo's words, and immersed himself in meditation. Slowly, his tightly closed eyes relaxed, and his expression also got calmer. Noticing that, Ichigo's eyes widened, as he figured that something had happened, but soon after, he was proven otherwise, as Naruto had started snoring.

"Don't tell me... he actually fell asleep?" murmured Ichigo in disbelief, wondering who the hell would be able to fall asleep in that position. Obviously, Naruto. "This kid... it hasn't even been a few hours..."

" _You can't blame him, can you? After all, this Jinzen shit is really boring, and you know it,"_ said Zangetsu with a wicked grin. " _Before, you were lucky as the Old fart would be the one to initiate the conversations, but it seems that the little brat's Zanpakutō wants to go through things the conventional way. Boring if you ask me."_

" _Well, no one asked you to begin with,"_ murmured Ichigo in annoyance, wondering whether or not he should wake Naruto up. In the end, he decided that he needed the rest, so he took it upon himself to prepare dinner.

The red-haired man's figure then flashed, and by making use of Shunpo, disappeared into the forest. A few minutes later, he came back, a huge deer on his hands, which was then cut to pieces by his two swords, before being thrown into a clumsily made fire-place.

Even thought that deer was clearly a mutant beast, the meat it possessed was quite the delicacy, and before long, a pleasant smell encompassed the area around Ichigo, as the deer's meat began to release a euphoric fragrance.

"...Food?"

At that moment, from behind Ichigo, Naruto's voice rang as his single eye opened up, only to be greeted by the roasting meat. Widening his eyes, Naruto realized that somehow he had fallen asleep, and during this period, Ichigo had cooked up dinner. Getting up from the ground, Naruto stored away his Zanpakutō before going over to a nearby tree, where rest his physical body.

After entering his body once more, Naruto headed towards the fire-place, and began to tend to the fire along with Ichigo, after apologizing for the inconvenience. After the meat was done roasting, Naruto began to devour everything, while Ichigo sat by the side, slightly nibbling on a small piece, as he didn't really require anything, for his body was semi-ethereal.

Afterward, since it was already night, Naruto laid down on his make-shift bed, improvised from the fur of his various preys, and slept once more, as if his previous sleep hadn't been enough.

…

…

…

Three days later, while making use of Jinzen, something unexpected happened, as Naruto felt his consciousness being pulled away. When he opened his eyes again, he was no longer in the forest, but instead his inner world, which took the shape of a sewer.

Standing in front of him, just like the previous time, was the blonde-haired girl with revealing armor, and by her sides, were two large cocoons.

"So, you're back already?" asked the girl as she walked over to Naruto, gazing at him with an amused expression. "You have been trying to connect with me for the past three days...Is there anything you need?"

"..." Naruto didn't say anything, as he slowly adapted himself to the change in environment, before focusing his eyes on his Zanpakutō spirit. "I'm here... to get to know you."

"Know me? You mean my name?" the girl revealed a surprised expression before shaking her heads, cruel smile on her face. "You're aren't worthy of knowing it yet... even if I told you, you wouldn't be able to hear it..."

To her words, Naruto only revealed a surprised expression. Noticing that, the blonde girl sighed as she said a string of words, "*********"

"Hmm...what?" asked Naruto, as just like the previous time, he was also unable to hear the name she had spoken. Could it be that he simply wasn't worthy of it, like she had said?

The girl merely sighed as she shook her head. She then snapped her things, and a large golden throne appeared behind her, on which she then sat down. "I told you already, you won't be able to hear it, even if I want to tell you... My name holds a lot of power, and the current you won't be able to handle it. Before you can hear it, you must first complete a few conditions."

"Conditions?" asked Naruto as he lifted his body from the ground, looking at the blonde-haired girl with a look of confusion, which was then overlapped by confidence, "Alright, say them."

Naruto was already determined to gain power; no matter what it took. As such, if he could get himself his Shikai as long he could complete some conditions, then he would gladly achieving them. No matter what it took, he would definitely accomplish them.

"Oh...?" the blonde-haired girl revealed a slightly surprised expression upon noticing the sheer determination on the boy's eyes. Her expression, however, soon became one of amusement as she said, "Your determinations is worthy of praise, but that alone won't get you anywhere. Before you can hear my name, you must first... you must have completely merged your consciousness with mine, achieving the level of becoming one with thy sword."

"...How should I do that?"

"Master that art the Shinigami calls as Zanjutsu. Enhance your speed, strengthen your muscles and toughen your skin... You must make your body a vessel capable of harnessing the power of Kings, or else you'll succumb to my power. Currently, my true powers may not be strong, as my true might is only shown in what is called as the 'Bankai'. My 'Shikai', although powerful, isn't anything astonishing, but to the current you, is more than what you can handle."

"Then... how long will it take for me to achieve that level?" asked Naruto, a determined expression on his face.

"With your pitiful progress?" asked the blonde-girl before shaking her head, "You shouldn't be able to reach it in this life-time. However, if you surpass your limitations, and truly bring forth your hidden potential... then, it should be feasible to accomplish it in the time-span of four to three years."

"...That much?" Naruto's eyes widened in surprise, as he clearly remembered Ichigo telling him that it should take at most one year for him. According to the red-haired man, it had taken him only a few months to achieve Shikai, while he had also told Naruto that one of his acquaintances, someone called Hitsugaya, had taken less than a year. As such, Naruto couldn't help but to be surprised.

"Foolish child, do you really want to compare your progress to other Shinigamis?" said the blonde girl while shaking her head, her arms crossing under her rather large bosom. "Although I have told you that my Shikai isn't heaven-defying, that's only in comparison to my Bankai. Compared to other Shikais, from what I have been told by the Hōgyoku, it's still much more powerful than most. In terms of power, it should even be slightly stronger than your master's Shikai."

After saying so, the blonde girl sighed, "Also, remember that you are wrong, and your body isn't developed... That's why it will take this amount of time."

"...Really?" asked Naruto, his expression going from down-cast, all the way to excited, for he had heard one sentence that really had an impact on him. "Is it really going to be stronger than Sensei's Shikai?"

"I can't say for certain," said the blonde girl. "However, it should be." After saying so, she then shook her her slightly and waved her arms. "Well, you have already been here long enough, and have heard all that you require to know. When you're strong enough, I shall bring you back here, and then, you should be able to hear my name."

Immediately after she said that, Naruto lost consciousness. When he woke up again, he was back in the Forest of Death, meditating with his Zanpakutō on his lap. Noticing that his apprentice was back, Ichigo walked over to him, a small smile on his face, as he was sure of what had happened.

"So, how was it? Did you manage to get the name?" asked Ichigo as he helped the young boy up to his feet.

"No," Naruto shook his head, but at the same time, his expression was one of unwavering determination. "However, I should be able to do it soon."

"Soon? A couple of months?"

"Three years," said Naruto without a change in expression, and while leaving the stupefied Ichigo behind, he began to practice with his sword. Soon, however, he was interrupted as Ichigo ran over to him and shook his shoulders.

"Three years?! Are you serious?!" asked Ichigo with an incredulous expression, as if he could not believe it. He had figured that Naruto's talent, although not amazing, was not too shabby, and that it would only take him a couple of months, up to one and a half year at most, to achieve his Shikai. However, three years was certainly outside of his expectations.

"Yeah," nodded Naruto nonchalantly as he freed himself from Ichigo's grasp, continuing to swing his sword. "However, for that, I'll have to train hard... Sensei, please spar with me a little!"

"This...," Ichigo only looked at Naruto incredulously before sighing. Since Naruto didn't seem to have any problems with that amount of time, then why should he worry about that. Picking up a stick of wood from the ground, Ichigo nodded, "Alright, let's begin."

And with that, Naruto's training resumed once more. Only that this time, it would be a thousand times more rigorous.

 **Read & Review~!**


	4. Unforeseen Events

**_Disclaimer: I don't own either Bleach, or Naruto or anything else that may appear in this story._**

 ** _Beta-read: Kryokon_**

* * *

 **Chapter 4 - Unforeseen Events**

* * *

 **(Sorry for the short chapter. The next one shall be longer)**

Within a dimly-lit room, a young, white-haired boy laid in his bed. His skin was of the most pale color, and he wore a long white robe, decorated with a greenish-pale cloak. This boy seemed to be in a state of slumber, when suddenly, he lifted his torso up from the bed, apparently surprised over something. Even though he had awakened, his eyes had yet to open.

The young boy slowly got up from his bed and walked over to his desk, where he kept a small, pearl-like object. Grabbing the object carefully, the young boy stuffed it in his clothes before exiting the room. Even though he couldn't see, he quickly moved through the corridors of what seemed to be a large building, before arriving on a certain room.

The room was bleak, and had a desolate-air to it, as if no one had ever entered the room for hundreds of years. Not only that, the room was devoid of any objects, with the exception of a large, wide array right in the middle of the room, which extended all over to it's borders.

Quickly, the white-haired boy walked over to the middle of the array, and with trained efficiency, took out the small, pearl-like object from his cloak, placing it right in the middle of the array. The young boy then took a step back and sat down on the ground, directly opposite of the round object.

"...I didn't plan to head there so soon, but...," murmured the boy as he channeled his chakra through his hands and into the ground beneath him, powering up the seal, which in turn, made the round object shine brighter. "This moments seems rather fitting... Not only that, it would be for the best to get my hands on _them_ as soon as possible..."

In the next moment, the pearl-like object in the center of the array suddenly started to emit a strange yet peaceful chakra, which seemed to contain some deep and esoteric meaning. Soon, the entire room was enveloped by this strange chakra, which seemed to encompass all thing in its surroundings. The room, which was previously of a pure white color, was now shining with a faint green light.

"This is the moment," said the boy decisively as he waved his hands, producing a wave-like green-colored chakra, which flew in the direction of the pear-like object, that, by now, was starting to emanate a low, humming sound. "...Today, I shall attain the Tenseigan!"

The moment the green, wave-like chakra collided against the pearl-like object, the muffled-sound of an explosion resounded through the entire building, as the small room the boy had been in was enveloped in a bright, green light. When the light faded away, the boy was no longer there.

…

…

…

"Sensei, are you sure about this...?" said Naruto as he looked at the tall, red-haired man in front of me, who was looking back at him with a small smile. "I mean, I haven't been to the village in two years, and I was hoping to keep it like that."

It had already been two years since Naruto had begun his training under the tutelage of Ichigo, and during this period of time, the golden-haired boy was subjected to many transformations. First and foremost, he was no longer a skinny, frail child, who dearly lacked nutrition. The current him, after two years of plentiful meals, had managed to grow into a healthy youth.

Naruto's hair, which was ragged and dirty, was now clean, and more than anything, long, tied into a small male-ponytail, with bangs framing his sides. His complexion also suffered many changes; his eye, which was bleak and desolate, had become sharp and somewhat full of energy, with his azure-blue iris seemingly enveloped in electricity.

He had also grown taller, and his previous height, that was small even for his age, had already become suitable, if not tall, for children his age. Not only that, he now donned something akin to an eye-patch, which covered his right-eye in a dark cloth. The whisker-like marks by his cheeks had also turned more prominent, and his overall appearance was more than pleasing to the eye.

However, compared to the changes in his abilities, the changes in his appearance had been minimal. From a young boy with no technique at all, Naruto had already reached a high degree of attainment on the arts of Zanjutsu, which almost rivaled his Sensei himself, if not for the fact that the latter had a much more profound experience when it came to fighting.

The current Naruto, although miles away from being able to cause Ichigo any trouble, in a battle of pure sword fighting could already give the red-haired man a run for his money. Although it had been hard at first, after Naruto had managed to master his nodachi Zanpakutō, his prowess with a sword rivaled many experts Shinigami that Ichigo had met in his life.

It's as they say; although the nodachi is the most difficult of all swords to wield, once mastered, it can also be considered the deadliest one, with a wider range of attacks and much higher destructive power. Couple with Naruto's inherent strength, the blonde boy could already be considered an expert when it came to Zanjutsu, even though it had barely been two years since he had started his training.

This heaven-defying progress, of course, didn't come without a price. During this two years, the golden-haired boy worked himself to exhaustion every single day, and would only rest to eat and sleep. He would spend entire nights thinking about sword styles, only for in the following day to test them out. If not for Naruto's mind-blowing effort, he would have never achieved his current level of power.

In the end, however, this still wasn't enough to cause Naruto's Zanpakutō Spirit to make it's appearance. From what Naruto could see, when she had mentioned that he was required to master Zanjutsu, she had probably meant it... the literal way.

As such, even though Naruto could already be considered a Zanjutsu expert, he didn't dare to grow lenient, and continued training with the same intensity as he had always had, never daring to give up or rest. Because of that, Naruto had assumed that this day would have been like any other, but it seemed like that wouldn't be the case.

While Naruto had been in the middle of training, Ichigo had noticed, with his enhanced spiritual awareness, the presence of four or six intruders in the village, given their unfamiliar energy signatures. Immediately, Ichigo realized that this would the perfect change for Naruto to try out his skills. After all, all this time, the only sparring partner he had ever had was Ichigo, and it would do well to try out his ability with other, unknown people.

With that in mind, he had immediately informed his disciple about it, but not surprisingly, Naruto had been rather reluctant of leaving the Forest of Death, which had been his home for the past two years. Even though most shinobi feared the deadly forest, to Naruto, it was the place in which he had lived his most treasured experiences, and he was rather attached to it.

"Naruto, listen to me," said Ichigo sternly to the young boy who was unwilling to meet his gaze. "This will be the best opportunity to see how much you've grown these past two years!"

"..." Naruto didn't say anything. He hated Konoha with all his heart, and had always thought that he would never have to set foot on it again. Now, he had to think of some excuse, "...But, what if those intruders are more powerful than me? Wouldn't I be walking onto my own death?"

"Don't worry," Ichigo smiled as he placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder, giving him a thumbs-up. "I'll watch your back! I don't want my first disciple to have an early grave, do I?"

"But-"

"Come on, it will be fine," sighed Ichigo, closing his eyes briefly in order to check the position of the intruders. He then pointed in that direction and said, "Come on, it's that way."

Naruto still looked unwilling, but in the end, he sighed, and along with Ichigo hopped onto the trees. This time, however, he no longer used his spiritual body, but instead, his real body. A few months ago, it seemed like the Hōgyoku had heard his prayers, and had given Naruto the power to manifest his Shinigami powers without having to leave his physical body.

While rushing towards the direction of the intruders, using the tree-tops and branches as support, Ichigo and Naruto quickly left the area of the forest, officially entering the residential area of Konoha. Although it didn't seem like it, Ichigo was also using of this opportunity to vanquish Naruto's hesitation towards stepping foot inside the village.

Soon after entering the residential area of the village, Naruto and Ichigo blended in with the night, and followed after the intruding Shinobis, who had been found by Ichigo. After a couple of minutes of hopping through rooftops, the master and disciple duo caught sight of four cloaked Shinobi, which were staring at what seemed to be the entrance of a clan.

"Isn't that...," murmured Naruto, quickly recognizing which clan's entrance it was. "The Hyūga clan?"

As someone that used to constantly run across the village, trying to not get caught by his pursuers, Naruto clearly knew the village like the back of his hand, even though it had been a long time since he had last stepped on it. As such, he could clearly tell which clan was in front of him.

"Hyūga?" murmured Ichigo, not really finding that name familiar, which was a given, since Naruto had never told him anything about the village, and he hadn't actually asked either. However, it was clear that these foreign Shinobi had something to do with this clan, so he looked back at his disciple and whispered, "Is there anything important about the Hyūga clan?"

"Anything important?" asked Naruto quietly, while he and Ichigo moved to a darker area in order to wait for any action on the intruding Shinobis part. "Well, if I remember correctly, they had some kind of special eye. Byakugan, I think."

"A special kind of eye...," Ichigo adopted a thoughtful expression before nodding. He then briefly glanced at Naruto, who was by his side, and said, "We'll see how it goes. If we find the opportunity, then I want you to fight with one of them. If anything happens, then I'll jump in and save you. How's that?"

"Alright," Naruto nodded, and kept his single eye fixated onto the foreign Shinobi, who had already been staring into the Hyūga compound for a long time already. After a few minutes, however, one of the man suddenly whispered something to his fellow partners, and following that, they jumped over the entrance, entering the clan.

Upon seeing that, Naruto and Ichigo exchanged glances, and without a single word, rushed after the foreign Shinobi, also entering the Hyūga clan's area. Thankfully, Ichigo had recently begun teaching Naruto about Hohō, the movement technique of the Shinigami, and because of that, not only was Naruto fast, his steps were barely audible.

While being followed by Naruto and Ichigo, the foreign Shinobi quickly moved through the large area belonging to the Hyūga clan, clearly having an objective in mind. Since it was night, most people were asleep, and even the experts of the clan failed to notice the intruding shinobi's presence.

After a couple of minutes of constant running, Naruto and Ichigo found themselves in what they assumed to be the core area of the clan, where the main family resided in. It was also at that this moment that the six shinobi stopped moving, moving towards one of the trees near the biggest house in the region. However, at that moment, another Shinobi, also cloaked, approached those fix shinobi, who immediately bowed.

"So it's like that...," murmured Ichigo, since although he and Naruto were hiding quite far away, he could hear some of the words spoken. Apparently, they were from some hidden village called Kumogakure, and that newcomer was an ambassador from that same village, who planned to kidnap a member from the Hyūga clan Main Family

Suddenly, one of the Kumo shinobi left the ground, and swiftly entered into the main house. A couple of minutes later, he came out with a young girl on his arms, quickly bringing her towards his fellow Kumo shinobi.

"Sir, I was unable to find Hinata Hyūga, but her sister, Hanabi Hyūga, was present," said the man as he presented the brown-haired girl in his arms towards the ambassador, who looked at her briefly before nodding. Although his aim was the eldest daughter, it wouldn't change his plans much.

"Great work, man. Let's head back now, or else it may be too-"

Before he could even continue, from the house near them, a long-haired man wearing a kimono walked out. His face was one of rage, and he was staring directly towards the six hidden Kumo shinobi. "Come out right now!"

"...Crap," murmured the ambassador Shinobi, whose eyes widened in surprise. As of this moment, he knew that escaping was no longer possible, for that man, Hiashi Hyūga, would easily be able to wake everyone from the clan up. As such, his only option now was to silence the man.

However, the ambassador knew that he would be unable to defeat Hiashi along, so he quickly looked at his men and ordered, "Four of you, come with me. As for you...," he then glared at the man who had Hanabi in his arms. "You head back to the village."

"Hai!" all of the shinobi nodded, and immediately, the ambassador, along with four of them, left their hide-out, while the last one escaped with Hanabi on his arms. At the same time, Ichigo and Naruto glanced at each other before following that man, intending on intercepting him on the way. After all, this would be the best occasion for Naruto to battle one of them alone, and Ichigo also felt like helping out the Hyūga clan, since, after all, no matter how you looked at it, it was a kidnapping.

While Hiashi and the four Kumo shinobi fought, Ichigo and Naruto followed the other Kumo Shinobi back into the Forest of Death. After they distanced themselves from the village slightly, Ichigo was about to order Naruto take action, but before he was able to, right in front of the Kumo shinobi, a young boy with a pearl in his hands materialized out of thin hair.

The boy wore strange clothing, his eyes were closed and his hair was of a pure-white color, which was completely unusual. Initially, the Kumo shinobi thought that he was seeing a ghost, but upon noticing that it was only a teenager, he smiled darkly.

"Brat, get the hell outta my way," ordered the Kumo shinobi, who was already preparing to continue his running, since he needed to get back to the village as soon as possible. However, he was unable to, as the young boy with closed eyes merely waved his sleeves, a small kunai appearing on his hands.

"You want to fight me?!" the Kumo shinobi's eyes widened, and just as he was about to put the girl in his arms down, his eyes suddenly widened, as a kunai suddenly pierced through his neck. Before the man could even register what was happening, his last breath left his body, and his life was taken.

At the same time, the young white-haired boy, who had suddenly appeared behind the Kumo shinobi, pulled his kunai back from the man's neck, and before the Kumo shinobi's body could fall to the ground, he picked up the young sleeping girl on his arms.

"...Sensei, this...," murmured Naruto in shock as he watched what happened from afar. He couldn't even see the boy move, and that was considering that he was already used to Ichigo! Just what kind of speed was this?! Not only that, the boy was not much older than him!

Ichigo, however, kept quiet, looking at the boy deeply, a profound expression on his face, observing him quietly. Upon seeing his Sensei like that, Naruto also shut his mouth and began to observe the boy with attention, wondering who he was and what he planned.

As for the white-haired boy, upon taking the young girl from the man's hands, he ceremoniously laid her down on the ground, before placing his left hand over her two eyes. In the next moment, they glowed with a faint green light, and from the girl's eyes, two streams of energy flew out, landing in the boy's hands.

"Finally... I'll be able to awaken my eyes...," murmured the boy hoarsely, trembling with unusual excitement. He then brought the two streams of light to his own eyes, that clearly penetrated onto them. The young boy's hands then clenched into fists, as overwhelming pain took over him. However, it soon passed, and before long, he opened his eyes.

From the distance, Naruto was able to see that the young boy's eyes, although completely white, were slowly beginning to shine with a faint light. Within it, the faint pattern of a lotus flower was beginning to appear.

The white-haired boy then eyed his surroundings, and he was overwhelmed by a pleasurable sensation. For someone that had been blind for his entire life, being able to suddenly see was simply a marvelous, euphoric feeling. After a few minutes, however, the boy suddenly stopped and murmured, "I must go back now... Soon, I'll be struck by pain again..."

He then looked towards the girl on the ground and sighed, "Although cruel, in order to get rid of evidence, I must..." he then right hand forward, a kunai appearing on it. "Dispose of you."

However, just as his blade was about to clash against the girl's neck, a shadow flew out from the nearby trees, and in the next moment, a blade appeared in his path, making his kunai unable to pierce into the girl's neck.

With widened eyes, the young white-haired boy looked up, only to see another boy, not much younger than himself, wearing a pitch-black cloak. The boy's right eye was covered by a piece of cloth, while his hair was pulled back into a short pony-tail, golden bangs framing his sides.

"I'm sorry, but I can't really let you do that," said Naruto plainly as he easily used his Zanpakutō to block the young boy's kunai. Although Naruto wasn't exactly a rightful and kind person, he just couldn't let this girl die just like that.

"You... who are you?" asked the white-haired boy as he took a few steps back. Naruto immediately took that opportunity to move his body, now standing directly in front of the young, black-haired girl.

"I'm Naruto, a Shinigami," Naruto introduced himself as he held his sword up, entering his Zanjutsu position which had been drilled into his mind by Ichigo. "And you are?"

"Toneri, member of the Ōtsutsuki clan," said the white-haired boy plainly, eying the golden-haired youth in front of him carefully. After all, the aura around the boy wasn't that of a shinobi, and his robes were certainly unusual. Not only that, he even called himself a Shinigami, which translated to Death God. As such, Toneri couldn't help but to put his guards up. "I must ask you, Shinigami, why are you interfering with my actions?"

"No reason in specific," Naruto shrugged his shoulders, his cerulean-blue eyes staring deeply into Toneri's pupil-less eyes. "However, if I had to give you a reason, it would be that... I'm here to fight you."

"Fight me...?" asked Toneri strangely, however, upon remembering the fact that he would soon be overwhelmed by pain again, he immediately stopped talking, entering his own battle stance. Since the young boy in front of him, who claimed to be a Shinigami, planned on fighting him, then he would simply have to grant his wish!

Toneri then raised his hands up and flashed did a summoning gesture. Following that, right in front of him, a large puppet appeared. It wore dark-black robes, and was as tall as grown man. Immediately after it appeared, Toneri waved his hands, and the puppet instantly flew towards Naruto at strikingly fast speeds.

"Puppet...?" Naruto's eyes widened, but as someone who trained himself in the art of the sword, his surprise didn't last long, as he immediately moved to the side, dodging the puppet's punch. While dodged, Naruto spun his sword around, targeting the puppet's back.

However, before it could reach, the puppet suddenly jumped backwards, moving back to Toneri's side, who looked at Naruto with surprise. "...Not bad..."

Toneri then did another summoning sign, and once more, a puppet appeared in front of him, now totaling two of them. Waving his hand forward, Toneri sent the two puppets towards Naruto, whose eyes had narrowed upon seeing Toneri's actions.

"Two of them...?"

Naruto then took in a deep breath, and a look of deep concentration appeared on his eyes. This was the moment to show the results of his two years of training... this was the time to see if it had all for naught or not!

Everything around Naruto suddenly vanished. The sky, the earth and even the air was completely ignored. In Naruto's eyes, only those two puppets existed, and all of his concentration was locked onto them. Seeing the puppets approach, Naruto firmly stood his ground and raised his blade, making it parallel to his body.

At that moment, one of the puppets attacked, causing Naruto to move his sword to the side, blocking the punch. At the same time, his feet kicked against the ground, raising him high-up in the air. Instantly, Naruto pulled back his left leg, only to kick it towards the other puppet's head, jumping above the other puppet at the same time.

Soon after, Naruto fell to the ground on the other side, directly behind the first puppet. The blonde boy then sent his blade forth, swiftly piercing through the puppet's torso, and then used his sword as support, lifting up his body and kicking towards the other puppet once more, who had already been kicked once.

Alas, Naruto had underestimated Toneri's expertise in handling puppets, as just as his leg was about to clash against the puppet's torso, its body suddenly twisted, directly dodging Naruto's attack. At the same time, the puppet which had been pierced by Naruto suddenly turned its body around, and one of it's arms grabbed towards Naruto.

With narrowed eyes, the blonde boy pulled his sword back, avoiding the first puppet's attack. He then glared at the two puppets coldly, already having an idea of their level of combat. Although they weren't that powerful, Naruto still had to find a way to shut them down for good, or else he wouldn't be able to defeat them.

However, at that moment, Naruto caught sight of something. From the hole he made in the first puppet with his Zanpakutō, there was a faint green light, which seemed to be originating from the central chest-area.

"Found it," murmured Naruto, pushing his feet against the ground and dashing towards the first puppet. Before Toneri could even order it to move out of the way, Naruto slashed down with his Zanpakutō, cleanly cutting the puppet's left arm. Slashing side-ways, the blonde boy bisected the puppet's body, revealing a small symbol on the middle of it. An excited light shone in Naruto's eyes, and while dodging the second puppet's attack, he slashed down with his Zanpakutō towards that strange, glowing symbol.

Upon being pierced, the symbol suddenly crumbled, and so did the puppet's body, which dissolved into dust. Seeing that his theory was correct, Naruto dashed towards the first puppet and with great precision, pierced its chest, directly breaking the symbol within it. Just like the first one, it immediately crumbled into dust.

Now that he had dealt with the two puppets, Naruto turned around to face Toneri, only to find the white-haired boy smiling at him strangely. A senses of deadly crisis filled Naruto's mind, and he immediately rushed towards Toneri's position, his sword pulled back, ready to slash towards him. Although Naruto was sure that with Toneri's speed, the attack wouldn't be enough to take his life, it would most likely be able to harm him.

Much to Naruto's surprise, however, the moment he brought his blade down, Toneri's eyes suddenly widened as he was overwhelmed by a feeling of pain coming from his eyes, immediately falling down to the ground. At the same time, Naruto, who had already begun his attack, could no longer stop the momentum, and slashed through Toneri's body.

 _Slash!_

Blood flew to the air, and Toneri's young boy was cleaved into half. The strength behind Naruto's attack wasn't a weak one, and it had been more than enough to slash through his clothing and cut him in half. However, that was far from Naruto's intentions.

Upon seeing the bisected boy in front of him, Naruto's mind reeled, as he realized that for the first time in his life, he had actually killed someone. Even though in his dreams he had killed the villagers many times before, doing it with his own hands was a completely different feeling. From the very start, his only plan was to battle Toneri, and not to kill him. He never would have expected that the white-haired boy would dodge that attack!

However, just as he was about to despair, within Naruto, a faint, purple light shone. This purple light filled his body, and in the next moment, all feeling of remorse or hesitation disappeared from his body like leaves in the wind. When he looked at Toneri's body again, although Naruto still felt saddened, he was still able to cope with the thought of having taken his first life.

"...What was that?" murmured Naruto in shock, clearly aware that something had changed his way of thinking in the split-second. At the same time, however, no matter how much he thought, he couldn't figure out where that feeling had come from. In the end, he looked down at Toneri's corpse blankly.

Just as he was about to call Ichigo, Naruto suddenly stopped, as an idea appeared on his mind. He then looked at Toneri's eyes, and upon seeing that the faint outlines of the lotus pattern were becoming clearer, he understood what should be done. Even though it was indeed his fault, Naruto knew that it would be a waste to leave these eyes behind, for they seemed to be clearly special. As such, there was only one thing that could be done.

Naruto took out the cloth that covered his right eye, revealing a closed eye beneath. However, behind the eye-lids, there was only a vacant, hollow area, where his eye had once been. Naruto then glanced at Toneri again, and after a bit of hesitation, he sighed, took in a deep breath, and pried out his right eye, along with his left one.

Looking at the two orbs in his hands, Naruto wondered if he was doing the right thing, but in the end, he could only sigh. Although he didn't know what exactly those eyes were, it was clear to him that they were powerful, and he had also been missing a right eye. Toneri was already dead, so he would have no use for his eyes. As such, in theory, there would be no problem in taking them for himself.

At the same time, however, he couldn't help but to feel that what he was doing was wrong. After all, he had just killed the boy, and not only did he not feel _much_ guilt, he still felt that his reaction was incorrect. In the end, there was no way to turn back time, and Naruto was aware that what done was done.

Sighing, Naruto, upon hesitating a little, begun to bring over one of the orbs to the vacant space in his right eye, knowing all full well that given his regenerative powers, it wouldn't be impossible for they to heal up all of the nervous system in the eye region, adapting itself to the new eye. Even though this would require a delicate medical procedure in normal occasions, Naruto had a feeling that it would happen naturally to him.

However, just as he was about to bring the small orb up his eye-level, right in front of him, a purple light shone slightly, and out of thin-air, the Hōgyoku appeared. It wasn't the first time that it had made its appearance, so Naruto wasn't really surprised. Instead, he stopped his actions, and looked at it curiously.

The Hōgyoku then hovered in the air in front of him for a while before flying towards the unconscious girl. Naruto followed after it, and upon reaching the girl, he couldn't help but to wonder what had been those two streaks of light that had flown from her eyes. As such, while illuminated by the Hōgyoku's light, Naruto carefully pushed her eye-lids back, only to see that beneath it, there were pale eyes.

Those eyes, however, were different from the Byakugan, which Naruto had already seen before. They were of a much paler color, and didn't have the mystic feel of the Byakugan. It was clear... that she was blind. Or, at the very least, had turned blind.

"This... could it be that those streaks of light were actually...?" Naruto's sole eye widened, as he finally realized what had happened. The things that Toneri had absorbed were actually the girl's vision. Upon revealing that, Naruto glanced at his hands, where he held onto the two orbs. "Then... should I...?"

After a little of hesitation, Naruto begun to bring over Toneri's eyes towards the girl's blind eyes, for he knew that this would actually be the correct thing to do. However, before he could so, the Hōgyoku, that seemed to have observed his actions and figured out what he thought, suddenly trembled slightly.

From the Hōgyoku, three streams of light flashed. Two of them fell on each of the girl's eyes, while the other one landed in one of Toneri's eyes. On the following moment, the girl's two eye suddenly began to developed a brighter color, and the mystic feel of the Byakugan returned to it. At the same time, one of Toneri's eyes, the one which had been struck by the Hōgyoku's light, suddenly flashed lightly, and turned into small particles, that flew into Toneri's other eye, covering it in.

From the remaining eye in Naruto's hand, a dim golden eye flashed, and after it dispersed, what was in Naruto's hand was no longer a pure white orb with the fate signs of a lotus. Instead, there was clearly a lotus-shaped symbol in the middle of the eye, surrounded by countless smallest petals. Not only that, it was now of a light golden color, with the center being a pure blue color.

Immediately after the transformation was done, the Hōgyoku, upon realizing that it's job was done, turned into a streak of light that flew back into Naruto's body, where it had been for the best two years. As for Naruto himself, he only eyed the eye on his hand for a few minutes before steeling his nerves. He then brought his hand up, and directly placed that eye in the hollow area of his head, which was the place where his other eye should have been.

Immediately after that, a dense and ruthless sense of pain flooded his body, originating from his new eye, and he passed out, entering a state of slumber.

 **Read & Review~!**


	5. Eternal Tenseigan

**_Disclaimer: I don't own either Bleach, or Naruto or anything else that may appear in this story._**

 ** _Beta-read: Kryokon_**

* * *

 **Chapter 5 - Eternal Tenseigan**

* * *

A few hours later, Naruto woke up. His vision was completely distorted, and he felt intense, banging sounds in his head. The pain he felt was boundless, akin to endless torture. However, he endured through it and tried to close his right eye, only to find himself unable to.

At the moment, his vision was completely weird. Sometimes, everything would be black and white, while others, he wouldn't be able to see anything at all. At some point, he was even able to sense a faint energy coming from the trees, but just like it before, it was ephemeral, and his vision was once more thrown into a loop of confusions.

In the end, Naruto could do nothing about it. Most likely, it was result of assimilating this new, strange eye. He had already been expecting some kind of side-effect, but this was clearly above his expectations. While gritting his teeth, Naruto forcefully turned his head around, looking at the petite, dark brown-haired girl which laid by his side, peacefully sleeping.

Even though his audition wasn't nearly as good as Ichigo's, he was still able to understand some of what was said by those four Kumo ninja. From what he could gather, this girl by his side was called Hanabi, and was from the Main Clan of the Hyūga clan. Thankfully, she had yet to awaken, or else she would probably freak out or something.

"So troublesome…," sighed Naruto, fighting back the pain and the constant changes in his vision, which enervated him greatly. He then looked around, searching for something or someone, but finding nothing. It seemed as if Ichigo had somehow decided to temporarily abandon him on this situation. "Damn you Sensei..."

Naruto then sighed, and once more focused on the girl by his side, which was an incredibly heard ordeal. His vision was constantly flickering; sometimes he could clearly see her skeleton, other he could see her blood-flow and sometimes, she would simply disappear. Naruto could only hope that this new eye of his would be worth the trouble in the end.

"What to do…?" murmured Naruto, thoughtful. He knew that it would be unwise to bring her back to the Hyūga clan in this situation, as he would most likely be framed for kidnapping, being placed in the same group as the Kumo ninja. With his reputation of a demon, anything was possible, really. "Argh, why did I have to get myself tangled in this mess?!"

His vision was completely messed up, he was suffering from one hell of a headache, and now had to deal with an unconscious girl. He didn't even know where he should begin in this kind of despairing situation. If he could at least stop the torment from his eyes, then he would be able to think things through clearly, but he was simply unable to.

"Alright, calm down. Deep breaths, deep breaths," chanted Naruto, crossing his legs and trying to close his eyes, only to find himself unable to. Nevertheless, Naruto still tried to meditate, taking in deep breaths, but it was proving to be quite the ordeal with the constant pain. "If only Ichigo-sensei was here…"

…

A few hours later…

No matter what Naruto did, the pain just wouldn't go away. He had tried everything, and even went as far as trying to gouge his new eye out, but no matter what he did, it simply ended in failure. By every passing second, his vision only got weirder and weirder. Sometimes, strange, small illusory animals appeared in front of him, but in the next moment, he wouldn't be able to see again.

As far as he was concerned, throughout the time he had been awake, he had already seen the world in over four hundred different manners. Once, he had even seen what he assumed to be the future of the land, and others, the past. It seemed as if his new eye knew no bounds, having completely omnipotent vision. Sadly, he wasn't able to control it.

However, at one point, the brown-haired girl next to him, that sometimes appeared to be only a hollow skeleton, started moving around on the ground. After lazily stretching, she slowly opened her pure, white eyes without a care in the world. Upon seeing the place she was in, she couldn't help but to cry out in surprise.

"A-A f-forest?!" Hanabi's eyes widened, clearly surprised. After all, she was sure that she had slept the other day in her room, on top of her futon and beneath the sheets… Just how did she end up in a forest?! Although she had been through many cases of sleepwalking before, in her view, this was just ridiculous.

At that moment, she finally caught sight of the blonde-haired ten years old by her side. The moment she saw him, she shrieked back in surprise, her eyes widening. She had never had much contact with boys before, and she couldn't help but to put her guards up. However, what had truly frightened Hanabi was his right eye.

It was unlike everything she had ever seen; it wasn't a normal eye, that was for sure, but it was also completely different from the fabled Sharingan and the Byakugan. The sclera was of a pure white color, and the eye didn't have a defined iris. Instead, in the center of the eye, there was a golden, lotus-like pattern, with countless petals. It also seemed to be slowly spinning, with a turquoise-blue dot as the center.

Not only that, from the corner of the eyes, blood was flowing out non-stop, giving birth to a rather frightening scene. Immediately, Hanabi raised her hand forward and stammered, "M-mister, y-your eye! I-it's b-bleeding!"

"Mn?" Naruto's left eye widened slightly. Out of all things he had expected that the girl would said upon waking up, this definitely wasn't in his list. Nevertheless, he slowly brought his hand to the area around his right eye, only to feel a slimy and thick substance. Blood.

Upon realizing that Hanabi's claim was actually correct, he didn't know if he should be worried about the fact that his new eye was bleeding, or the fact that his face was so numb that he failed to notice. In the end, he brought up his dark-black sleeve and carefully cleaned the blood from his face. After doing so, he noticed that Hanabi's surprised expression hadn't lessened in the least.

"Mister, there's more coming out…."

"More…?" Naruto's eyes widened, and once more, he discovered that his eye had begun bleeding again. He then wiped it again, but soon after, it started to bleed, just like before. Seeing that, Naruto could only sigh and hope for not dying from blood-loss. "Ignore my right eye for now."

"..." Hanabi still seemed to be a little perturbed about Naruto's right eye, but in the end, she forced herself to calm down. In the end, she meekly asked with a bashful attitude, "Mister… Who are you?"

"Naruto Uzumaki," answered Naruto with a small smile, which was obviously forced. "You should be Hanabi?"

"En," Hanabi nodded bashfully, but her pure white eyes suddenly widened in surprise, "Wait, how did Naruto-san know?"

"Let's say that I have my ways," sighed Naruto, thinking that this girl in front of him was letting her guards down too much. She didn't even seem wary of him, a complete stranger. He wondered what the Hyūga clan was teaching their children. In the end, he shook his his head, "Hanabi-san, do you know what happened yesterday?"

"Yesterday?" Hanabi cutely raised her tiny, jade-white hands to her lips and revealed a thoughtful expression. "I woke up, had breakfast with Tousan, Kaasan and Onee-chan. I then-"

"Spare me the details," interrupted Naruto, shaking his head with a deadpaned expression. Seriously, this girl was too overly familiar to his liking. She didn't even ask his origins, where they were or anything… This wasn't the right way one should react in this situation! However, it was above him to teach her to be wary of strangers, so he explained, "After you went to sleep, do you know what happened?"

"I woke up," Hanabi nodded seriously.

Upon hearing Hanabi's reply, Naruto felt yet another headache coming his way. Somehow, he had been stuck with a completely naive girl. However, this completely idiotic answer allowed Naruto to understand that she had no idea of what was happening. Sighing, he simply shook his head and asked, "How old are you this year?"

"I should be eight-years old."

"Should…?" Naruto's eyes widened, but he didn't think too much into it. If what Hanabi her said was indeed the truth, than in essence, she was only younger than him by two years. However, it had to be noted that Naruto had matured early, while Hanabi… it appeared that she was simply something else. "Anyhow, Hanabi-san… if I left you in Konoha, would you be able to reach the Hyūga clan alone?"

At the moment, all that Naruto wanted was some peace of mind, and he wouldn't be able to rest with a young, naive girl by his side. As such, he wanted to get rid of her as soon as possible and find Ichigo. That way, he most likely would be able to deal with his right eye in silence.

However, it seemed as if he had overestimated the young Hyūga girl.

"I don't think so… I haven't been out of the clan so much…," said Hanabi after much thought.

Naruto could only face-palm at the airhead in front of him. When he was six years old, two years younger than the current Hanabi, he already knew the entire village as if it was the back of his hands. And yet, she couldn't even find her way home?!

This... this was truly a difference in upbringing. While Naruto had been forced by the circumstances to develop his astonishing memory, Hanabi led an easy-going and happy life, with occasional practicing. Even when it came to clan affairs, most of it was left for her sister, Hinata. She lived life the easy way.

Finally, after all was said and done, Naruto wrapped a piece of cloth around his right eye, which was still bleeding, and after a little bit of convincing, got Hanabi to let him carry her up. Either the girl was surprisingly light, or Naruto was too strong, but the blonde didn't feel almost anything when he carried her up.

"Alright, Hanabi-san. Have you ever ran on roofs?" asked Naruto as he walked out of the Forest of Death, the cute Hanabi on his arms, looking at his handsome face with childish curiosity.

"Ran on roofs...? How?"

Naruto then sighed and merely shook his head, leaping up to the closest building, much to Hanabi's surprise. "So high... Onii-chan, how can you jump so high?"

 _Onii-chan..._? Naruto revealed an ugly expression at how he was called, but in the end, didn't say anything about it. He then sighed and explained, "Hanabi-san, I'm a..." Naruto then stopped lightly, thought for a bit and said, "You could say that I'm a shinobi."

In reality, he didn't have a single similar trait to a shinobi, and was actually a Shinigami, but he figured that with Hanabi's 'astonishing' thought capabilities, it would take too long to explain it to her. It was in times like this that Naruto missed people like Toneri. At the very least, they didn't ask a lot questions, and understood much more with much less information.

"Shinobi...?"Onii-chan Hanabi's eyes widened, and her pupil-less eyes seemed to sparkle. "Onii-chan is so cool! Can Onii-chan teach me how to be a shinobi?"

"No."

"...Please?"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"I'll drop you on the ground," threatened Naruto, his patience running out. He already had to deal with his eyes... he didn't have the time to handle this hyperactive airhead. "Just keep quiet until we reach your home. Can you do that?"

Hanabi kept quiet, looking at him silently. Noticing that, Naruto grew annoyed. "I asked if you could do that."

Alas, Hanabi still didn't say anything, looking at him funny. Becoming even more annoyed, the young boy stopped in his tracks and demanded, "Answer my question."

"...But you told me to keep quiet?" Hanabi opened her mouth shyly, looking at Naruto, whose eyes were widened, with confusion.

"..." Naruto didn't say anything, his face blank. After a while, he sighed and said, "Just don't make a sound from how on."

…

…

…

"Alright, here we are," said Naruto, stopping in front of the Hyūga compound. He didn't dare to go inside like before without Ichigo, so he could only settle for leaving the young girl at the entrance. At the very least, he hoped she would be able to find her way inside.

He then slowly and carefully placed Hanabi on the ground. During their trip, he had learned that her body was rather fragile, even though she constantly held spars with her sister. In the end, Naruto just couldn't understand this mysterious girl.

"Thank you, Onii-chan," Hanabi smiled towards Naruto, a happy expression on her cute features. Although it didn't seem like it, she had grown rather fond of this Onii-chan of hers. "Then, Onii-chan, when will we meet again?"

 _Hopefully never...,_ grimaced Naruto. However, he just couldn't bring himself to say those words, so he forced a smile. "Only the future will tell."

Hanabi simply smiled at Naruto's words with an innocent expression, "Onii-chan, don't try to pretend that you're so smart... only smart people say that."

"..." At that moment, Naruto didn't know whether he should laugh or cry. To see someone as airheaded as Hanabi calling him smart... Naruto didn't even know how he should feel about it. In the end, he only bid her farewell, turned around and started walking away. However, he suddenly stopped and looked back, seeing that Hanabi hadn't moved from her spot at all.

"Hanabi-san, can you promise me something?" asked Naruto, walking back to the cute eight-years old.

"Of course!" Hanabi puffed her chest proudly.

"Then, don't tell anyone about me. Specially not my name. If anyone asks, the one who brought you here wasn't Naruto."

"...Naruto? Who's Naruto?" Hanabi tilted her to the side, looking at Naruto curiously. Slowly, a mischievous smiled appeared on her face.

"You..." Naruto's eyes widened, only for him to suddenly understand what Hanabi had meant. Realizing that, the blonde boy couldn't help but to think that maybe, Hanabi was smarter than she let be. "Alright, thanks, Hanabi-san."

"Don't worry, Onii-chan!" said Hanabi, smiling sweetly, her eyes turning into half-moons. "I promise that I won't tell anyone about Onii-chan!"

"That's good," Naruto nodded and said goodbye one last time before heading back to the forest of death, hell-bent on finding a certain orange-turned-red-haired young man who had abandoned him. As for Hanabi, she only kept standing there for a long time. She didn't move at all, and simply gazed at the direction that Naruto had left.

A few hours later, a clan member caught sight of Hanabi at the entrance, staring ahead blankly. He immediately brought her back, worry all over his face.

…

…

…

"So you're meaning to tell me that you've been observing us the entire time?!" Naruto's eyes widened, looking at Ichigo furiously. Soon after he arrived in the forest, Ichigo had made his presence known, and explained how he had been watching him from the shadows ever since Naruto had passed out.

"That's pretty much it," Ichigo nodded, a small smile on his face. "I wanted to know how you would deal with the situation... I must say that I'm surprised. You handled it better than expected..."

After saying that, Ichigo couldn't help but to reveal a melancholic smile, "Still, that Hanabi girl reminds me of the old Orihime... although Orihime wasn't as airheaded, they were still similar..." Ichigo then shook his head, clearing those thoughts away. "Anyways, kid. You got yourself new eyes? I noticed that you were in pain... what's the deal?"

"Nothing much," said Naruto with forced calmness, taking out the now-bloodied cloth around the right side of his face, revealing his brand-new right eye. "Only that my vision is completely messed up..."

"I can see that," commented Ichigo plainly, noticing that blood was already beginning to concentrate on the corner of Naruto's eyes. The golden lotus pattern was also swirling around with an even faster speed, and the petals were almost unnoticeable. "So, what are you seeing right now?"

"Right now? You're only a large conglomeration of dark-red energy... Wait! You just disappeared... along with the trees... Everything around me is now pitch-black... Oh, there we go. Changed again. Now the trees are withered, the ground is barren, and you're also not here..." said Naruto, every once in awhile changing his words. He had already grown accustomed to these constant changes, and if it wasn't for the never-ending pain in his head, he would be much better.

"Alright... that's weird...," murmured Ichigo after listening to Naruto's descriptions for half-an-hour. If he didn't know any better, he would have thought that Naruto was on drugs. Those kind of heavy, complex acids that completely messed up with the brain. In the end, he could also feel that the reiatsu around Naruto's eyes was abnormally chaotic, and knew that there was truth behind the blonde-haired boy's words.

Ichigo then grew quiet, and after a while, decided to talk to the voice in his mind, whose name he had discovered to be Kurama. " _Hey, Kurama. You there?"_

" _Where else would I be, Shinigami?" grumbled_ the Kyuubi, clearly not pleased at being called. Hell, it was never pleased with anything.

" _Good point. Do you know what's up with Naruto's eyes?"_

" _The brat's eyes...?"_ Kurama kept quiet for a long time before saying. " _Supposedly, it should have been the Tenseigan... the eyes belonging to the brother of my creator. However, the Hōgyoku tampered with it, so I don't know what it does right now."_

" _Tenseigan?"_ Ichigo's eyes widened slightly. _"What does it do? Does it have some kind of special powers?"_

" _You could say that,"_ answered Kurama plainly. _"Normally, it can control... well, gravity. To be more exact, attraction and repulsion of objects. It also gives you a strange chakra mode in which you are enveloped by chakra and a few other abilities. However, I don't think that the same will apply to the boy's right eye."_

" _And why's that? I was there when the Hōgyoku appeared. Didn't it just fuse one eye with the other?"_

" _It isn't that simple,"_ Kurama sighed. _"The Hōgyoku changed the basic structures of the Hōgyoku, enhancing every single of of its powers, and also adding countless more. It completely tampered with the power behind the Tenseigan, and created another kind of an eye. An incredibly power kind. In fact, I believe that not even a thousand Tenseigans could possibly compare to the boy's right eye."_

" _That powerful?"_ Ichigo's eyes widened in surprise.

" _Even though it's hard to believe, that is indeed the case. I'm not sure of the level of power of the product of the Hōgyoku's tampering, but it should be something out of this world. At the very least, it should be much more powerful than regular Tenseigans."_

" _Alright...,"_ murmured Ichigo. He then sighed and asked, _"Then, do you know how to stabilize the eye? Or at least the process of stabilizing the normal Tenseigan or whatever you call it? It seems that Naruto is in a lot of pain right now..."_

" _There's nothing that can be done. It should fix itself with time. The same thing happens with the normal Tenseigan, except that it's only limited to the pain. Events such as the constant changing of Naruto's vision is something unheard of."_

After hearing that, Ichigo sighed, determining that for once, he would be unable to help his disciple. In the end, he could only hope that it wouldn't last for long. After all, Ichigo had grown rather close the young boy, and more than anything, Naruto wouldn't be able to continue his lessons with such a freakish eye going haywire.

…

For three weeks, the pain didn't pass. It was constant, accompanying Naruto day and night. Wherever he went, it would follow along happily. Lately, he had even grown numb to the pain, and it was only on rare occasions in which it would rise in degree that he would even be bothered by it. As for the constant changing of vision, it had slowly grown less frequent, even though his vision would mess up every once in awhile.

Finally, on the fourth day of the third week, the pain suddenly ceased. At the same time, Naruto's right eye suffered a transformation. It was as if the lotus in the center of it had bloomed, and the faint gold color had begun even brighter. It also stopped to spin around, and had turned immobile. With this, the frequent shifts in Naruto's vision also came to an end.

However, this didn't mean that his vision was normal. Although he would be able to see things without a hitch, if he focused on his right eye, everything would turn completely different. He would be able to sense the presence of beings far away, his line-of-sight increased greatly, and even his five senses would be enhanced. Naruto obviously knew that this was far from the true powers of his new eyes, but as he was too focused with his sword training, he had decided to postpone his investigation on it.

In the end, Naruto still thought that mastering Zanjutsu was his top priority. After all, once that was done, he would be able to unleash his Shikai, which would bring forth an exponential increase in his powers. Naruto's right eye also improved his combat prowess. With his enhanced senses, his dodging rate soared to new heights, while he also became more nimble and agile.

Slowly, the months went past, and before long, Naruto was already twelve years old. It had already been four years since he started his training. Even though he hadn't been able to master Zanjutsu in three years, like his Zanpakutō had said, he was only a single step away from achieving perfection in swordsmanship.

During the two years that had passed since Naruto killed Toneri and acquired his new eye, he had grown tall, and although he was still far from reaching Ichigo's height, he was already taller than most twelve years old, and even some thirteen years old. His hair had grown even longer, and the bangs by the each side of his head were almost reaching his shoulders, while his tied up hair behind his neck had already grown longer, reaching his mind-back.

At the same time, his hair, although tied, maintained its relatively spiky form, and it had grown into a slightly darker color. Even though it was still blonde, it wasn't as golden as before. Naruto's face had also grown more handsome, his eyes narrow and long like a blade. The whisker-like marks, instead of growing bolder, had started to fade a little, although they were still there. His lips were thin and wide, with a shallow, yet strange curve that seemed cold, yet mischievous.

The most striking part about Naruto's appearance, however, were his eyes. His left eye was of a deep cerulean color, like a deep and boundless pond, while his right eye was simply exotic. There was no iris. In its place was a golden-lotus-shaped pattern, and in the very center of it was a dark pupil.

Naruto had also grown fitter, and although he maintained his slim, agile form, there was more mass on his body, no longer exceedingly thin. These changes in appearance, however, were only minimal. The true changes lay in his powers.

When it came to pure swordsmanship, without reiatsu and whatnot, Naruto was already slightly above Ichigo. Even though the latter would still win in a spar every once in awhile, Naruto would win two out of every three fights. This could be attributed to the fact that Naruto would practice day and night for four years, while Ichigo hadn't focused that much on it back then. He had been more concerned with his speed and strength, and less focused with technique.

Obviously, Naruto was only superior in Zanjutsu. If it was a real battle, where everything could be used, even thousands of Naruto wouldn't even be able to harm Ichigo. However, when compared to other youths in his age-range, Naruto would probably be invincible.

It had already been one year since most of the children of shinobi had entered the Ninja Academy, and every once in awhile, Naruto and Ichigo, while hiding their presences, would pass by there in order to have a look at their practical classes. What they saw left the disciple and master duo greatly disappointed.

Naruto had been hoping that he would be able to find someone in the younger generation to spar with, like he had done with Toneri, but it seemed as if Toneri had been an exception. From what he could perceive, the entire generation of shinobi children were a bunch of weaklings who couldn't even aim correctly.

When Naruto saw the sheer difficulty in which the students tried to throw their Kunais and Shurikens at the large targets, the blonde had thought that it was something difficult, so he disguised himself and bought a few kunais and shurikens. Going back to his training ground, he tried to do the same as the students, but in his first try, he had gotten everything perfectly, even though his target was smaller than what the students had been used.

From that moment onwards, Naruto concluded that his strength surpassed the younger generation by a large amount. What he didn't know, however, was that the only reason why he had been able to not miss a single throw was all because of his right eye, which grant him unparalleled vision, and more than anything, precision.

On these last few days, Naruto had reached a bottleneck in his practicing of Zanjutsu, and decided to take a break from it for a while, and try to overcome it with a clear mind. During the this period of time that he didn't waste on practicing the ways of the sword, he tried out the powers of his right eye. After a long afternoon of trials after trials, he was able to conclude a few things.

His new eye, which he had named as Eternal Tenseigan for a lack of better naming sense, was able to sense the chakra of other shinobi, and even sense the reiatsu of other beings. Obviously, the reiatsu part was an add-in of the Hōgyoku. Not only that, it grant him perfect vision, with a vision-span of thousands of meters. Aside from that, if he focused, he could increase his sight to a quasi-molecular level, and even see the Tenketsu, the points of chakra absorption, like the Byakugan.

Finally, he was also able to see through through cloth if he wanted to. However, this ability was extremely restricted, and he could only see through it if his eye was only a few centimeters away from the cloth. As such, although Naruto had tied a few straps of dark cloth around his right eye in order to avoid strange stares from people, he could still see perfectly fine.

Naruto was also aware that his Eternal Tenseigan still had many other powers, but he just couldn't bring himself to bother with them at that moment. After all, his break from practicing Zanjutsu was brief, and before long, he had went back to slashing around.

…

"Alright... One more time!" roared Naruto, kicking a tree with his leg, making many of the leaves on it fall down. With a single swift moment, he drew his nodachi-type Zanpakutō from its sheath and slashed out. His motion was fluid and perturbed, like the calm waters of a pond, but carried boundless piercing and destructive power with them.

Initially, nothing happened with the falling leaves. In the next moment, however, half of them were suddenly split in countless tiny pieces. If one counted, they would see that each of them had been split in the exact same way – In one hundred, symmetrical pieces. The level of power and precision required to do so was simply insane, and not only that, half of the leaves were intact, which proved Naruto's sheer control of his blade. In his hands, the nodachi that was normally made for hacking and slashing was extremely graceful and calm, full of hidden and profound meanings.

Ichigo, who was by the side, simply shook his head while sighing. "I don't know what is more unbelievable. The fact that a twelve years old actually achieved this level of swordsmanship, or the fact that his Zanpakutō has yet to recognize him."

" _I'm beginning to think that maybe the kid's sword is retarded or something. Either that, or it has some fucking high standards. I'm not kidding. Out of all Shinigami that Kingy has met, no one possessed nearly as much control over their sword as that brat,"_ Zangetsu commented with a strange look in his eyes.

" _I must say that I agree with Zangetsu,"_ stated Old-man Zangetsu after a while. " _Even I am beginning to think that this is simply preposterous. Soon, Naruto will have already completely mastered the ways of Zanjutsu. What more does the child's Zanpakutō desires in a host?"_

" _Beats me,"_ Ichigo sighed, a complex expression on his face. He had heard of some cases in which it took a long time for a Shinigami to gain their Zanpakutōs trust, like it had been with Kenpachi, but this was simply absurd in his view. Naruto had worked extremely hard, but his Zanpakutō spirit had yet to make an appearance!

However, just at that moment, Naruto, who had been practicing, suddenly stopped, his eyes widened. Without missing a beat, he fell down to the ground, crossing his legs. He then laid his Zanpakutō on his lap and closed his eyes. On his face, there could be seen hints of joy and excitement.

Immediately upon noticing that, Ichigo rose from the ground, startled. Although nothing had been said, he was sure of what was happening. His expression also grew excited. The success of a disciple was akin to the success of the master.

At the same time, Zangetsu's eyes suddenly widened, revealing an expression of shock. He then sneered, an amused expression on his face, " _Speaking of the devil..."_

Old-man Zangetsu nodded, " _Such a coincidence."_

…

Within Naruto's Inner World.

"Am I already able worthy of hearing your name?" asked Naruto, looking at the blonde-haired girl in front of him who sat on a golden throne with a lazy expression.

"Indeed," the girl tersely acknowledged his words, a calm and amused expression on her face. "You have overcome your limits, and have proven yourself worthy of my power. Your body is already capable of harnessing my power, and it should even be beneficial for your development."

After saying so, she suddenly disappeared from the throne, reappearing right in front of Naruto in the next second. In each of her hands, she held identical swords, both of which Naruto recognized as the unreleased form of his Zanpakutō. Without a single world, the blonde Zanpakutō spirit threw him one of the swords.

"However, there's still a trial you have to overcome. You must first defeat me," stated the Zanpakutō spirit, looking at Naruto bemusedly, as if gazing at a toy. It was obvious that she didn't think much of him.

Surprisingly, Naruto had already been expecting such words. His right hand quickly grabbed the Zanpakutō that had been thrown at him from the air, and held it with both hands. Closing his eyes, Naruto steadied his breathing. His aura was calm and serene, like the still waters of a pond.

In the next moment, it was as if someone had suddenly thrown a rock at the pond, creating countless ripples. The aura around Naruto suddenly enlarged, and like a sword that had been unsheathed, it was cold and full of killing intent. Sharp. Powerful. Mighty.

Naruto's eyes opened, and they carried a strong and powerful sword intent, capable of shaking the entire world. His eyes were focused, and he was prepared to give it all he had for this single battle. He knew that this would be a battle that could determine his entire future.

"Let's fight."

Two words. Only two words, and yet, they carried with them a thick sword essence which could pierce through the heavens. It was domineering to the extreme, and impossibly sharp, directly piercing through the air, and resounding again and again.

Upon listening to those two words, the Zanpakutō spirit's expression changed from casual to excited. It had initially thought that Naruto wouldn't pose much of a threat, but those two words had changed everything. She was now sure that this would be an excellent fight!

 **Read & Review~!**


	6. Aid (plus the last announcement)

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, Naruto, or anything else that might appear in this story.**

* * *

 _Chapter 6 - Aid_

* * *

 _So, now you're probably wondering: is Breaker12 coming back to this website? The answer, I'm afraid, is no. To be honest, the reason why I wrote this chapter is mostly because I just remembered that my "announcements" on all my fanfictions are talking about a story I published in another website. Now, the issue with that, aside from the blatant advertisement, is that I also dropped that other story, so the announcement itself is fairly inaccurate. Therefore, I wished to replace these announcements with a proper one, but if I did so, it'd appear to those who follow it as an update, probably getting their hopes up. Then, when I thought about how much of an asshole I had already been by dropping all my stories mid-way, I said: "No. If I'm gonna give them false hope, I might as well provide them with at least a little something." And that a little something, as you can see, is another chapter. It isn't much (it wasn't even beta-read), especially considering I'm very, very, very unlikely to write yet another chapter for these stories in the future (there **is** a possibility,  that's why I'm not deleting my stories and account altogether, but don't count on it), but it's at least still something. So, once again, I apologize for everything. And, for the last time, farewell. (Oh yeah. I'm also going to write 'Dropped' in the summaries of all my stories to make sure new readers don't waste their time on them.) If you follow any of my other stories, expect them to be updated (like this one) in the following days.  
_

 _EDIT: Ehrmm... crap. I just realized that I kinda ended this chapter in a cliffhanger (so much for not being an ass, eh?), so I'll probably publish another chapter later this week to at least wrap up the fight and maybe reveal some of Naruto's new powers as well as his shikai or something. Sorry about that._

* * *

Panting, Naruto tightened his grip on his sword. "You're way tougher than I thought you'd be," he said, smiling a rueful smile.

The _zanpakutō_ spirit stood a dozen or so feet away, her sword in a careless hold, its tip resting against the ground, as she stared at him in what could only be perceived as complete apathy. She offered him no censure or praise; what she thought of him he could guess. The first time he had met her, years ago, back when he was undergoing hollowfication, she had seemed considerably less menacing.

He took a deep breath and got rid of any stray thoughts. Ichigo had warned him that a spirit's pride matched their power. In light of how ruthless she was being, that could only mean that he'd be getting his hands on a power unlike any other. Nevertheless, even if what awaited him was godlike in nature, it'd mean nothing if he couldn't beat her first, which seemed more like a far-fetched goal the more they thought. However, as unlikely as his odds were, he wasn't about to stand down.

"Again," he cried, throwing himself at her, thus resuming their duel.

Blades clashed faster than the eye could follow, as they left only abstract outlines in the air, their swords meeting each many times in a second. All of Naruto's focus was on their match; where she moved, how she moved, and how he could take advantage of both. The spirit, however, was unbeatable; speed, skill, and power—he wasn't her match in any of those. And as soon as that became apparent, he realized that a direct approach wouldn't take him anywhere.

With that in mind, Naruto drew back once more, putting up some distance between them. Once again the _zanpakutō_ spirit merely halted, staring at him in silence. She wouldn't pursue him, or force him to fight; Naruto figured she was just too prideful to fight an unwilling opponent. And as much as it hurt his honor to take advantage of her pride, he wasn't above making use of whatever was offered to him. Ichigo had taught him long ago that pride and honor would only lead him to his downfall.

However, all that gave him was some time to think and rest. He still needed to come up with some way to defeat her, lest it wouldn't be of any use. But what could be done in the face of seemingly absolute power? From what he had seen so far, she could probably give even a fully transformed Ichigo a run for his money with her swordsmanship alone. What was worse was that he couldn't tell whether she had any special powers hiding, as he hadn't been able to so much as to threaten her. Nevertheless, there had to be something he could. When he arrived, she had said he had proven himself worthy of her power, which was why she had deemed fit to initiate this battle. That meant that a way did exist, and he only had to find out what it was.

First, he considered his eyes—to be more specific, his right one. Even in the spiritual world of his mindscape, his _dōjutsu_ still functioned perfectly. And that could possibly be an incredible asset, if only he knew how to properly employ it. The uses Naruto had found for it so far were certainly useful; however, enhanced vision and sensory skills could only take him so far—it certainly didn't give him the edge he needed. Next, he thought about his _quincy_ and hollow abilities; they had been, however, sealed by his _zanpakutō_ spirit.

"Wait..." His eyes widened at the thought. The first time he had been there, he remembered how the spirit had shown him two cocoons, within which the other two spirits were kept inside. Since this was his mindscape, that probably meant that they were still around here somewhere, just hidden from sight. He knew it was a long-shot, but it was also all he had.

His mind made, while keeping his left eye on the _zanpakutō_ spirit, he closed his right one, which held the Eternal Tenseigan, and activated his sensory ability, looking out for any trace of reiatsu. What he first sensed was the _zanpakutō_ spirit's reiatsu, a massive, seemingly endless resource of golden energy. Then, ignoring her, he broadened his search, until it covered almost the entirety of his mindscape. Despite that, he still couldn't find even a trace of it. But just as he was about to give up, he suddenly caught a small pulse of it, like a beating of a heart, followed by another of slightly different nature.

Naruto didn't need to think twice; he turned in that direction and set off, leaving behind his stoic _zanpakutō_ spirit, who made no attempts to stop or follow him. Finding them, once he knew where they were, only took a few moments. The _zanpakutō_ spirit had placed the two cocoons in a small separate room far away from the entry area. But the moment they came into sight, he felt a chill run through him, as if he was staring into the eyes of a savage beast, even though they were completely sealed away.

As he approached, he decreased his speed, gradually going from a full run to small, careful steps. Before long he was only an arm's length away from the two cocoons. At that point he could barely keep himself from trembling; although they didn't emit any reiatsu or chakra, something else radiated from them, as if warning him to keep away. He didn't remember feeling that when the spirit had shown him them before, but it couldn't be any clear now. He could also feel that even though both gave off that same sensation, it was especially strong around the one on the right.

"I'm guessing you're the hollow, then," Naruto said. "Which means that you"—he glanced at the left one—"are the _quincy_ one." He clearly remembered how Old-man Zangetsu had told him that all his three natures—shinigami, hollow, and _quincy_ —were equally powerful due to the _Hōgyoku_. Therefore, it stood to reason that one of them, alone, should be enough to defeat his _zanpakutō_ spirit, something Naruto was thankful for, considering his _zanpakutō_ spirit had called them quite violent, and he wasn't sure if he could handle one of them, let alone both. That also brought up some other questions, such as how, even though they were evenly matched, his _zanpakutō_ had still managed to seal them away in the first place, but he'd have plenty of time to ponder over that later.

After some thought, being stuck between the _quincy_ and the hollow, Naruto finally settled on the former, as everything pointed to it being significantly less dangerous. Of course, he didn't even know if he could break their seals in the first place, which may be why the spirit hadn't bothered to stop him, but in case he succeeded on his first try, it was better if the choice had already been made.

With that in mind, he took a step back and raised his sword, before lunging forward and hacking at the cocoon. Much to his surprise, his first strike left a deep gash on its surface. He hadn't expected it to be nearly that easy, but when he thought how the _zanpakutō_ spirit probably hadn't considered the possibility of someone trying to break it from the outside, it made sense it wouldn't be as protected.

"Again, then," he said, this time attacking it with a downward slash. The groove on its surface widened, and Naruto immediately felt a blast of reiatsu wash through him. Before he could do anything, there was a pounding noise, before the cocoon suddenly exploded, sending him sailing through the air. Mid-flight, Naruto regained control and flipped in the air, landing safely on the wall before hopping down to the floor. He kept his _zanpakutō_ up as he stared at the center of the room, waiting for the dust that originated from the explosion to disperse.

A moment later, as if carried away by a gust of wind, the dust disappeared altogether, revealing, in its place, a long-haired young woman, who had her back to him.

Naruto held his breath.

At first, neither of them said anything, both fixed where they stood. Then she turned around, allowing Naruto to see her face. The first thing that caught his eye was how young she looked; at most, she was only a few years older than he was, similar to his _zanpakutō_ spirit. There were core differences between them, however. Whereas his _zanpakutō_ spirit had blonde hair, her _quincy_ counterpart's hair was of a pure, bottomless dark. The way their face was structured also different greatly; while the _zanpakutō_ spirit was regal in countenance, the girl before Naruto had a softer countenance, more down-to-earth, although just as attractive. The biggest difference, however, lay in their eyes. In contrast to the _zanpakutō_ spirit's bright red ones, the _quincy_ spirit's were of a dull, lifeless brown. That had Naruto wondering, Is she—

"You may lower your sword," the _quincy_ spirit suddenly said, breaking Naruto's train of thought. "I have no reason to attack you."

Naruto frowned at that. He stepped back. "I've been told you're rather dangerous."

"That I am," she agreed. "But not towards you."

Naruto hesitated. Ichigo had taught him never to lower his blade, regardless of the circumstance, but he truly couldn't detect any ill intent coming from the spirit.

"You require my aid, do you not?" the _quincy_ spirit said. "Then lower your blade. I can't help someone who does not trust me."

Naruto frowned. How could she know that? Before he could ask, she said, "Although my body was indeed sealed, my consciousness was left free to wander the confines of your mindscape, unlike that of our bloodthirsty cohabitant." She nodded towards the remaining cocoon, before focusing back on Naruto. "The conclusion I came to after observing the situation is that you have unsealed me because you can't best her by yourself. Am I wrong?"

"You aren't."

"Good," she said. "As I said, I'm willing to help you. You're, despite your lack of experience and power, my so-called "master". Therefore, I have no qualms about aiding you when you so request me to, but for that, I require your trust. Do I have it?"

Naruto sighed. He couldn't find any reason to refuse. He sighed, then lowered his blade, although slowly, ready to bring it back up at a moment's notice. "Alright," he said. "You have it."

"I am glad," she said, which felt quite queer to Naruto, considering her expression hadn't changed at all ever since the beginning of the conversation, seemingly eternally set on a mask of apathy. He figured that maybe that was some kind of trend among spirits. "Now," she said, "as I am already acquainted with your name, allow me to introduce myself." She paused, then said, slowly, as if feeling how the words tasted in her mouth,"You may call me Schein."


	7. Names

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, Naruto, or anything else that might appear in this story.**

* * *

 _Chapter 7 - Names  
_

* * *

 _As promised, this is the real last chapter. Maybe I'll come back and continue this story one day. Maybe I won't (which is way more likely). Don't count on it. **For all intents and purposes, this is the last chapter ever. This story is now officially**_ ** _DISCONTINUED.  
_**

 ** _ALSO:_** _this WASN'T beta-read, or edited, so there'll definitely be some mistakes/typos here and there. Nevertheless, the chapter should still be easy to understand as a whole._

* * *

"So, Schein," Naruto said, "what's the plan?"

"Plan?" She shook her head. "We do not require one."

"We don't?" Naruto frowned. He was powerless before the _zanpakutō_ spirit, and, as far as he knew, Schein, the _quincy_ spirit, had also been defeated by it. He could see no reason for her confidence. "What do you mean?"

Her eyes stared ahead without life. "I have reason to believe there won't be much of a fight. Even if there is, we won't lose." She faced the exit. "I've grown stronger."

Naruto blinked. Why wouldn't they fight? But before he could voice his questions, Schein started walking away.

"She awaits us," she said, "we should go."

"Oh. Alright," Naruto said, following after her.

They walked a steady, mild pace. When they finally arrived back to the center of his mindscape, they found the _zanpakutō_ spirit cross-legged on the ground, her eyes closed and her sword on her lap. She opened her eyes as they entered her domain.

The pair stopped a few dozen feet away from her. She stood up and sheathed her sword. "A wise choice," she said to Naruto. "You wouldn't be able to control your inner hollow as you are now." She looked at Schein. "I see you haven't fully matured yet."

"It is a long process," Schein said.

"A pity," said the _zanpakutō_ spirit. "I was looking forward to a proper match."

"It can be arranged for," Schein said. "I may not be fully grown, but I have grown enough."

The _zanpakutō_ spirit laughed. "I'm afraid you aren't, Quincy. You do not the extent of my powers."

"Nor do you know mine." Schein stepped forward. As she did, she flicked her wrist, and a longsword appeared in her hands. It looked as if cast out of light itself, pale-blue in color, flickering, yet somehow solid.

Naruto's right eye reacted. There was energy building up around the two females—far more energy than he could handle. He stepped away even as the ground began to crack.

"Oh?" The _zanpakutō_ spirit drew her sword. It looked different now—no longer was it shaped like a _nodachi. I_ nstead, it had taken a form Naruto had never seen before: it was around the length of a longsword, and had a grip and hand-guard; however, the blade was spun in a spiral, drill-like, cylindrical shape, almost as if a lance, sharpening on the tip, divided into three segments, engraved with crimson symbols. The guard itself was unusual: it was golden and layered, with part of it stretching towards the grip. At the same time, chains appeared around her left arm, wrapping around it in circles, with its end lying on the floor. "Are you challenging me?"

"Shit," Naruto murmured, frowning. The Eternal Tenseigan was seemingly on the verge of going crazy: the amount of reiatsu and chakra gathering around them was nothing short of colossal. The strange-looking sword, specifically, set off dozens of alarms in his mind. When he tried to look at it with his Tenseigan, it was as if he was staring into the sun. The amount of energy concentrated there neared infinity.

And it was all happening _inside_ his mindscape. He didn't know how exactly that worked, but he had a feeling it wouldn't do him any good if a fight did break out. It was then that he felt a hand land on his shoulder.

"And they say _I_ am the dangerous one."

Naruto felt a chill run down his spine. He glanced sideways, only to see that someone was standing right by his side. It was a woman who looked to be around Ichigo's age, with long lavender hair. She smiled at him, sweetly, her eyes dangerous, as if a predator looking at a prey. "Naruto, right?"

Naruto jumped backward, drawing his own sword. That made the two spirits look over; when they saw Rize, it was as if they had completely forgotten each other. The _zanpakutō_ spirit's reaction was by far the greatest. "You are free? How?"

The woman giggled. "Did you truly believe I could be bound?" she said. "Oh, you fool. I just grew bored of playing along."

"How precious," said the spirit. "You fancy yourself invincible, is that right? Well, allow me to show you otherwise." She charged forward, sword in hand, all the while unleashing her chains, which seemed to act as if they had a mind of their own, stabbing at the long-haired woman.

"Please," the woman said. She reached out and grabbed onto the chains, before throwing aside, as if they were loose rope. Then, as the zanpakutō spirit came closer, a long, tentacle-like appendage burst out from her back and attacked the spirit, who was sent skidding toward the wall, having used her strange sword to block the attack. She smiled and retracted her tentacle. "You'll have to do better than that, sweetheart."

For a while, nobody spoke, the woman and the zanpakutōspirit stuck in what Naruto believed to be a staring contest. Finally, Schein spoke up. "What is it that you want?"

"Nothing," the woman said, breaking her gaze "I figured I'd just meet my host." She looked at Naruto again and smiled. "And so I have."

Naruto wasn't paying attention to her words; something far more important troubled him: even with his Tenseigan directly locked on where she stood, he couldn't sense anything with. It was as if she didn't exist at all. "Are you the hollow?" he asked hesitatingly.

"Indeed I am," she said. "However, I'd be grateful if you called me by my name, Rize. The name 'hollow' leaves a bad taste in my mouth. It implies emptiness. Shallowness. And, I assure you, I'm anything but empty." With that said, she glanced back at the _zanpakutō_ spirit. "I am perfectly aware you don't trust me, but I assure you that I mean no harm. Otherwise, we both know you'd be dead by now. Moreover, even if we fought, it'd definitely bring damage to our surroundings, and I'm not interested in harming my host's mindscape."

The _zanpakutō_ spirit hesitated for a moment, then, albeit unwillingly, sheathed her sword, although she kept her hand close to it all times, ready to draw at a moment's notice. "There is truth in your words."

Schein also seemed to agree. She dispelled her light sword. Then, as if previously agreed upon, they all turned toward their host.

Naruto stepped back, unsure of what to do or say. He could barely wrap his head around the situation. He had known from the start his tenants were powerful, but what he had spectated far surpassed even his wildest dreams. He was foolish to think even for a moment he was ready to gain control over them; he doubted if he ever would.

The _zanpakutō_ spirit stared at him silently for a few seconds. Then, she sighed. "Gilgamesh," she said.

Naruto started. "What?"

"That's my name. Gilgamesh," she said. "King of Heroes, Wedge of Heaven."

"Gilgamesh," Naruto repeated, dazed. Then realization dawned upon him. "Wait. Does that mean I am… worthy? But I couldn't defeat you."

She shook her head. Rize smiled, almost as if looking at a young child, while Schein remained indifferent. "You were never meant to defeat me; even if you trained for many more years you wouldn't be able to. The purpose of this was for you to realize that if you only rely on strength, when you meet someone stronger than you, you'll lose. In a battle, you must use anything at your disposal. The solution I wanted you to reach was the one you reached: to seek help. As a king, it'd be unsightly of me to request the help of others. But you aren't a king—you are a peasant, and as a peasant you shouldn't be bound by honor or pride.

"I've also noticed how you're surprised by my change of behavior, so I'll spare you the trouble of asking. During the battle, I intended to keep a solemn and cold atmosphere, as that's what I believe most of your battles will be, in order to maintain a certain level of realism. If I acted as casual as I am right now, you'd probably realize that something was up right away. Therefore, I wanted to truly see how you'd react in a real battle."

"I… I see," Naruto said, nodding. Now, looking back, Schein had probably known all along. But that made him think of another thing. Why did she call herself king? And those titles—where had they come from? He decided to voice his questions. "The last time we met," Naruto said, slowly, trying to structure his thoughts into words, "you told me you were only born recently; that you had been created by the Hōgyoku. But you seem"—he frowned, grasping for words—"as if you're something more, I guess."

To his surprise, Gilgamesh nodded, as if she was already expecting the question. "Indeed, that was what I had first thought. However, as time passed, memories started coming to me—they weren't created, I'm sure; instead, it felt like remembering, in a way. I'm still not sure how all of this works myself, but I have a feeling that what the Hōgyoku did wasn't simple creation and modification, but something else entirely."

"I felt the same thing," Rize said. "My memories are faint, but I certainly feel as if I used to be someone else." She paused. "Aside from my name, however, there isn't much I remember. One thing that comes to mind is the word 'ghoul', but there's nothing besides that."

Schein nodded, although she didn't speak; Naruto figured she saw no reason to share her own experiences.

"I see," he said. He already had a theory or two—and he was sure they did too—but before sharing them he wanted to check with Ichigo and Zangetsu first. And that reminded him—how was he to return?

As if reading his mind (something he wouldn't put beyond her), Gilgamesh said, "Well, I believe this is enough for today. I'm certain you're anxious to try out your _shikai_. We'll hold you back no longer. Go."

Just like that, Naruto felt his consciousness fade. When he opened his eyes, he found himself back in the real world. Ichigo sat across him, staring at him curiously. He blinked, and Ichigo smiled. "Sensei?" he asked, a bit disoriented.

"You're back," Ichigo said. He stood up and helped Naruto to his feet. "So? How about it? Do you have the name?"

"I do," Naruto said. He had much to discuss with Ichigo, but, at that moment, all he could think of was his _shikai_. "Should I try it out?"

"Go for it," Ichigo said. He took a few steps back, giving Naruto some space.

"Alright," Naruto said. He raised his sword and concentrated. "Conquer, Gilgamesh."

The reaction was instantaneous: there was a sudden burst of reiatsu around Naruto, golden in color. His shinigami outfit changed—it was now more form-fitting, with golden accents, and a red, sash-like cloth tied around his waist. The biggest change, however, lay on the sword: it had lost its nodachi shape; instead, it now resembled a classic longsword, with a golden grip and guard, whereas the blade was dark, with red characters drawn across its length. In a way, it resembled a more sword-like version of the weapon he had seen Gilgamesh wielding.

"Interesting," Ichigo said, observing Naruto's new attire. His eyes lingered on the changed sword a little longer. "What can it do? Is it like mine?"

"Hmm…" Naruto concentrated for a moment. His eyes widened. "Wait. What? Really?"

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Naruto said, shaking his head. "I'm just… surprised. I'll show it to you."

He raised his sword, holding it parallel to Ichigo. Then, right before Ichigo's eyes, it split into two. One half took the form of a long, knife-like sword, purely black in color, with a thin, hollowed-out portion running along the back edge of the blade, from the base up to the middle of the sword; the other half became a smaller blade, similar to the first one, but smaller, with an enclosed handle, and completely filled.

"Zangetsu?" Ichigo asked, surprised. "In its _shikai_ form? Shape-shifting?"

"More," Naruto said. "Take out Zangetsu."

Somewhat confused, Ichigo summoned it, already in its _shikai_ form. "What now?"

"We fight," Naruto said, then charged at him.

* * *

The fight started out simple enough, with Naruto attacking, and Ichigo defending. However, as time passed, Ichigo realized that Naruto's attacks were gradually getting faster; he also noticed that his disciple's swords were in no way inferior to his own pair.

Naruto's replica rivaled the original Zangetsus, be it in power or durability. It was almost as if fighting with himself. Before long, he had to go into the offensive, lest Naruto would accumulate too much momentum and overpower him.

What he didn't know was that Naruto still had other surprises in store for him. Ichigo, deciding to catch his disciple off-guard, threw in an under-powered _Getsuga Tenshō_ amid a flurry of attacks. However, he was the one surprised instead when Naruto, right after blocking his attack, used _Getsuga Tenshō_ himself, indistinguishable from Ichigo's own attack.

That was when Ichigo realized it wasn't nearly as simple as advanced shape-shifting: _Getsuga Tenshō_ was an ability unique to Zangetsu and his father's Engetsu. Naruto's ability to use it could only mean one thing: the sword he wielded was, at least in theory, Zangetsu itself.

The moment he realized that, he immediately stopped the fight. That was just too much to swallow. In his lifetime, he had come across unique powers, such Aizen's hypnotic skills, or even the _shikais_ and _bankais_ of the 13 Captains, which tended to be pretty unique, but Naruto's was just too surprising.

"Naruto," Ichigo said, eyes narrowed, "just _what_ is your _shikai?"_

The boy smiled a rueful smile, scratching the top of his head. Despite that, Ichigo could see the sheer excitement in his eyes. _"_ It's a bit complicated to explain, actually," he said. "To sum it up, it basically has other weapons _'_ submit' to mine. In other words, my _shikai_ can 'conquer' any weapon it comes across. However, it can't force them into total submission—in other words, it can't grant me full ownership of the weapons, as it's just not that powerful yet. Instead, it demands from the weapon its concept; in other words, the very idea behind it, its blueprint: its powers, shape, hardness, durability, and everything else. Then, taking that, my _shikai_ forces the 'blueprint' into existence, through an adequate vessel. This time, as I didn't have anything at hand, I had to use its own body, but from what I understood, as long as I find a vessel that can contain the spirit of the weapon, it'd also work."

Once Naruto had finished his explanation, Ichigo stood there, motionless for a while, before starting to laugh. "Now _that_ is something else," he said. "If your _shikai_ is that powerful, then I can't help but fear what your _bankai_ will be."

Admittedly, Naruto's power would be incredibly useful back in his world; there, after acquiring the powers of many different _zanpakutōs,_ Ichigo had no doubt he'd become a massive powerhouse there with only his _shikai_. However, they weren't there anymore—instead, they were in a world in which weapons were considerably undervalued. Nevertheless, that wasn't to say it was useless: after all, it had already copied Zangetsu's _shikai_ , which was, in his opinion, one of the most powerful ones among shinigami. Even if Naruto copied no other weapons, he believed that with his own version of Zangetsu, he'd already be powerful enough.

And that was considering they were only talking about the _shikai_. For all he knew, Naruto's _bankai_ could be something far, far greater, as it wasn't uncommon back in his world for _bankais_ to be significantly more powerful than _shikais_. Not only that, if Naruto could also copy his _bankai…_ then, without a doubt, his _zanpakutō_ would already rank at the top.

Nevertheless, there was still much they needed to try out, so they spent the rest of the day seeing what Naruto's _shikai_ could do. In the end, they discovered that Naruto's _shikai_ wasn't powerful enough to force Zangetsu's _bankai_ to submit—despite that, from what they had seen, Naruto's _shikai_ grew more powerful as he did, so it was only a matter of time before he'd be able to force Zangetsu into submission. They also tried to have Zangetsu himself submit, but they soon realized that Naruto's _shikai_ interacted with the sword directly, bypassing the spirit, which made it impossible.

They ended the day with one last spare before each party went to sleep, so they'd be well-rested for the following day, which promised even more training and practice.


End file.
